UC-NRLF 


B    3    312    2S5 


€i 


LIBRARY 

OF  THE 

University  of  California. 


Class 

CASE 
B— 


QeiueUli 


OF  Tf'^ 

UNiVER.^M  . 

OF 


QEHEftAL 


Tf)c  PrelQde 


,^  -vO'l  ^}^J 


Or  THE     ■*       \ 

VER3ITY   ) 


In    castle-chamber,   Lady   Adela 
Her  banner    sewed,    the   victory   of 

Saint  George 
With  silk  of  every  hue,  while  at  her 

feet 
Contemplative  and  idle  mused  Isolda, 
A    pale-complexioned     niece,      with 

passionate  eyes 
Of  inward  exaltation.     On  the  floor 
Awkward    and  deft    lounged    Pierre 

the  jongleur, 
Proved    sleight-of-hand,    maintained 

six  balls  in  air, 
Broke  jests,  and   now  and  then,  for 

change  of  mirth. 
Chanted  romances  sweetly  to  the  rote. 

9 


Quaint  melodies,  and    quainter  gar- 
mented, 
Brief  coat,   hose  blue  and  russet  leg 

by  leg, 
Broad    saffron    hat    by    ribbon    now 

dependent, 
Brown  curls  to  left  a-cluster,  rightward 

clipped; 
Tall,  spare,  and  odd,  nose  arching, 

head  a-droop, 
Gray   meditative    orbs,   where   while 

he  sang. 
Flickered    and   darted   gay    sarcastic 

lights. 
That  died,  as  glimmer  of  a  highland 

pool 

lO 


Its  tarn  abandoneth  to  wonted  shade. 
Satirical  and  free  the  lays  he  told, 
How   Reynard   duped  Sir  Isengrim 

the  Wolf, 
Aping  a  holy  pilgrim;  of  the  minstrel, 
Who,    demon-charged     with   boiling 

of  the  damned, 
Against  Saint  Peter   diced  with  souls 

for  stake. 
To  forfeit  all,  at  every  separate  throw 
Less  by  one  pip,  till  Satan,  late  at  eve 
From  hunt  returning,  found  his  kettle 

void, 
And  raging,  cast  the  player  forth  from 

Hell, 
Where    never   since  hath  poet    been 

allowed;  1 1 


With    more    as    laughable,    until   I- 

solda, 
Impatient,  tapped  her  foot  and  cried: 

((Your  mercy! 
To  farce  adieu!  Now  hear  we  of  my 

namesake, 
Isolt    of    Cornwall,    she  whom    the 

love-draught 
Forever  and  forever  bound    toTris- 

tran.)) 
((Your  pardon,  lady  fair,»  returned  the 

singer, 
Another  way    the  old  romance    pro- 

ceedeth; 
Four  summers,and  no  longer,wrought 

the    potion; 

12 


Its  magic  lost,  the  lovers  grew  a- 
weary, 

As  might  have  been  foretold."  Out- 
flamed    Isolda: 

((How?  when  he  languished  of  a  poi- 
sonous   wound, 

Hath  he  not  summoned  her  from 
Brittany? 

Brooked  he  not  heart-break,  when 
his  cruel  wife 

Belied  the  silver  sail  that  wafted 
healing? 

Breathed  not  the  queen  her  life  upon 
his  bier?)) 

((Lady,))  the  stranger  said,  ((ere  thou- 
sand   circles, 


Minstrels   in  Rome  had   joy  to  tell 

how  Athens 
Paid  woful  tribute  of  her  youth  and 

beauty 
To     sate    a    flaming    dragon,    until 

Theseus 
Adventurous    sailed,   and  quelled  the 

evil  custom; 
Long  while   on    island-cliff  his  aged 

father 
Gazed  after  gleaming  of  the  silver  sheet 
Himself  had  lent  to   hoist  for  victory. 
Requiting    sable    cloth    of    sacrifice; 
Yet  Theseus   conquering  forgot    the 

emblem; 
When  looked  the  sire  upon  a  shadowy 

sail,                                   14 

Ocean    received    him.        From     the 

Roman  fable, 
Did   Norman    Berol,   in   a  month  of 

leisure, 
The    history  improve     by     weeping 

sequel, 
To    charm    yourself,     and   maids   as 

tender-hearted.)) 
With    wordless    indignation    burned 

Isolda, 
While  Adela   commanded:  ((Friend, 

your  mercy, 
Recount   your   lay  after   the    ancient 

manner.)) 


15 


./ 


The  wanderer  made  reply:  «!  know 

not,  lady, 
If   reached    your    ear    the    veritable 

record 
That  minstrels   spoil,   and   wantonly 

embroider. 
At  age  impassioned  for  achievement, 

Tristran, 
Who  ardently  desired  that  fame  and 

fortune 
Arrive  his  merit's  earning,  not  a  title 
Conceded  to  the  prince,  from  Tintagel 
Took    ship    for    Cornwall,     for    his 

uncle's  country. 
Where    nameless  he  remained,   and 

earned  his  life 

16 


A  soldier  of  the  king.   Austere  Mor- 

holt 
Arrived,  demanding  tribute  due  from 

Ireland; 
What  while  none    other    dared    take 

up  the  challenge, 
Tristran    arose,    and    since  the    royal 

rank 
No    adversary    owneth    save   a   peer, 
Perforce  revealed  his  birth,  and  from 

his  uncle 
Took  arms  and  knighthood.    Toward 

the  isle  of  combat 
The  warriors  oared, each  in  his  shallop, 

swimming 
A  steed  behind,  while  from  the  shore 

both  armies  1 7 


Breathless    admired;     then    Tristran 

insolent, 
As  though  one  boat  would  be  enough 

for  one, 
Thrust  seaward  Morholt's  bark,  and 

moored   his  own. 
Both   heroes  charged,    broke  spears, 

and  Tristran,   hurt 
By    Morholt's    venomed    glaive,    in 

after  sword-play 
His  rival  smote,  and  deeply  notched 

the  brand. 
So    that    in    foeman's    skull    adhered 

a  fragment. 
Hanghty,  he  bade  be  freighted  home 

to   Ireland 

i8 


The     body,  lawful    tribute  due  from 

Cornwall. 
Invaders  sailed,  and  came  with  grief 

to  Dublin. 
Shining   Isolt,    a  princess    skilled  in 

herbs, 
Hung  o'er    her  eme,  but    could   no 

more  avail 
Than  draw  the  piece  to  bury  in  her 

shrine. 
In  Tintagel  reaped  Tristran  fruitful 

harvest 
Of  love  and  praises,  till  that  festering 

wound 
Embittered  the  sweet  fountain  of  his 

life; 

19 


msm-^^ 


I'r -■r---i"fiy?feiaiJ  i 


Wherefore   he  pleaded  with  his  dear 

companions, 
On   ocean  to  be  launched,  alone  and 

oarless. 
At    mercy   wafted  of  the  winds  and 

waters; 
If  pleased   the    saints    bestow    upon 

him   healing. 
Return  he  vowed  within  the  year  to 

Cornwall. 
A  tempest  rose,  and  drove   the  bark 

toward  Ireland, 
Where  forfeited  lay  life;  his  name  he 

altered, 
To    pass    for  Pro,     a   trader  out    of 

Britain. 

20 


Secure    he  dwelt,    and    had  a  saving 

balsam 
From  fair  Isolt,  yet  never  viewed  the 

maiden. 
With   twelvemonth's  end  he    parted, 

and  through  Britain 
Arrived   in  Cornwall,   where   his  ad- 
vent made 
A  common  holiday,  by  grateful  Mark. 
Allowed  inheritor;  yet  jealous  barons 
Would  have  theirlord  create  a  prince 

for  Cornwall, 
And  force  upon  him  marriage, though 

he  liked  not; 
While  eagerly  in  palace  they  debated, 
Through  dim   and    smoky   rafters  of 

the  hall  21 


A  swallow  chased    a  swallow,  that   in 

beak 
Freighted  the  treasure  of  a  lady's  hair, 
iht^^i        From    over-sea    conveyed    for    nest- 
'r^^!  building; 

Between  their  wrangle  it  escaped,  and 

fluttered 
To   feet    of   Mark,   who    raised   the 

shining  thread, 
Pale-golden,  lustrous,  like  no  dame's 

of  Cornwall; 
The  king  set  foot    upon  this  path  of 

refuge. 
And  vowed  before  the  saints  to  wed 

no  woman. 
Beside    this  foreign    wonder    of  the 

world,  22 


w 


Whose   token    wings   had   wafted   to 

their  presence. 
Lords  fared  to  seek,  and  at  their  head 

went  Tristran; 
Again  a  storm  compelled  the  keel  to 

Ireland. 
Himself  he  called  Trantris,  his  ship 

forerunner 
Of  cornfleet,  and  in  time  of  dearth 

found  welcome. 
Meantime,  on  shore,  a  beast  of  flam- 
ing throat 
Ravaged    the   island;    for   deliverer's 

meed, 
The  sovereign  promised  Isolt  his  one 

daughter. 

23 


Adventurous  fared  Tristran,  slew  the 

dragon, 
And  in  his  hose  concealed  the  tongue 

for  trophy; 
Then,    parched     and    blackened    by 

the  fiery    breath, 
Plunged  in  a  chilly  bog,   and   lay  a- 

swoon. 
Another  found  the  worm,  and  claimed 

the  prize. 
Fair  Isolt,   with    Brengain    her    gov- 
erness. 
Went   forth   to    wonder  at  the  scaly 

bulk 
O'er  verdant  marshes  knotted  coil  on 

coil; 

24 


Soon,  admiraticn  weary,  raising  eyes, 

By    yellow  glimmer    of  a  reedy  pool 

Was  guided  errant  toward  a  golden 
helm. 

And  neighboring,  the  body  of  a 
knight. 

Black,  and  half  merged  in  the  water 
cold; 

The  youth  she  bade  take  up,  cher- 
ished, and  balsamed 

Within  her  bower   to  slow  recovery. 

Upon  a  morn,  while  lay  the  guest 
in  bath, 

Scouring  his  sword,  she  marked  the 
jagged  breach, 

With  unreflecting  motion,  from  her 
casket  25 


Drew  forth  the  fragment,  and  behold! 

it  fitted! 
Her  savior  and  her  nurshng  was  the 

slayer, 
On  whom  her  uncle's  blood  cried  out 

for   vengeance! 
The  brand  she  seized,  and  would  have 

slain   her  friend 
E'en  as  he  bathed;  while  through  his 

peril,    Tristran 
Admired  the  glory  of  the  golden  tress, 
And  smiled,  perceiving  that  his  quest 

had   prospered. 
With  pleadings  innocent  he  soothed 

the  maid 
Who  owed  him  debt  so  deep,  and  her 

own  mother,  26 


Loth  for  her  child  to   wed  her   hus- 
band's man, 
Joined     intercession;     IVistran     was 

forgiven, 
While  from  her  father  took  the  maid 

a  promise 
Of    safety,    that    the    slayer    of   the 

dragon, 
Whatever  doom  oppressed  his  life  in 

Cornwall, 
Might   prove  his   prowess    on   a  day 

of  judgment; 
Shown    was   the  token,  the  impostor 

shamed. 
When    came  the   hour  of   Tristran's 

recompense, 

27 


He  made  his   wooing  for  the  king  of 

Cornwall; 
Rejoiced   was  Ireland  with    the  royal 

marriage 
That  war   concluding,    opened  ports 

for  tratfic, 
While  Isolt  was  content  to  be  a  queen. 
Her  mother,  mindful  that  the  foreign 

husband 
Might    own    the  soul    together   with 

the  body, 
A  love-drink  blended  out  of  amorous 

herbs. 
Effectual  that  man  and  maid  partaking 
Four   years    must    cling  so  close  to 

one  another 

28 


As  every  day  to  meet,  or  else  to  die; 
With  tears  and  wishes  sailed  the  ship 

from    Cornwall; 
On  sultry  ocean  fell  an  August  calm; 
Tristran    demanded    drink;    a   ready 

varlet, 
The  vase  mistaking,  brought  the  cup 

for  wine. 
He  quaffed,  and  gave  Isolt;  after  this 

fashion 
Joined  were  the  twain,  who  until  hour 

of  tasting, 
Had  cherished  will  nor  thought.    At 

Tintagel 
Landed  the  bride,  and  royal  was  the 

wedding; 

29 


Affectionate,    the    master    named  his 

nephew 
Lord    of  the    chamber;    so  two    years 

went  by, 
And    never  day  bereft  of  looks    and 

kisses. 

Howbeit,    in  the  third  summer,  jeal- 
ous lords 
Blamed  Tristran  to  his  erne,  who  lent 

no  credit; 
But    firm    the    truth,    in    ecstasy    of 

passion, 
Was  prompt  to  burn  the  pair;  arrived 

a  lazar. 
With  band  of  reprobates,  and  begged 

the  queen, 

30 


Whom  Mark  conceded  as  the 
sterner   vengeance. 

On  road  to  death,  entreated  Tristran 
leave 

To  pray  for  the  acquittance  of  his  soul 

In  tiny  chapel   high   above   the  sea; 

From  window  down  he  leapt,  to  safe- 
ty  swam. 

And  had  through  Governal  both 
horse  and  sword. 

Isolt  he  saved, and  carried  to  Moresse, 

A  waste  near  Tintagel,  where  twelve- 
month long, 

They  lay  perdu  for  outlaws  of  the 
wild. 

In  that  sweet  season,  when  the  early 
year  3 1 


Hath  girlish  glee  of  her  new  emerald 

gown, 
Happened     a    mighty     hunting      in 

Moresse, 
Where    thousand   beaters  drove   the 

frightened  deer 
Toward  clearing  where  Mark  waited; 

then  befell, 
That   ranger  speeding  down  a  wood- 
land brook 
In    tangled    coppice    chanced    on   a 

booth 
Woven    of   willow    branches,   where 

behold! 
On    couch    of  fir   the  exiles   lay   and 

slept. 

32 


Round-eyed    with   fear,  the    servant 

sought  the  king, 
Who  bade  him  hush,  took  horse,  and 

after  rode; 
But    ere    arriving,    parted    from    his 

guide, 
Alone   advanced,  and  tiptoe    neared 

the  shelter, 
Mark  stared,  and  for  a  space  beheld 

no  more 
Than  radiancy  of  the   loosened    hair 
That    dazzled     eyes;     then     raging, 

marked  the  queen 
In  slumber  stir,  and  sway  toward  her 

companion; 
With  countenance    averted  Tristran 

lay,  33 


And    bright    between     the     twain    a 

naked  blade. 
The  gazer  paused;  what  errand  here? 

awaken? 
Be  slain  or  slay,  and  then,  remorse  for 

ever? 
He  stooped,  and  gently  raising  Tris- 

tran's  brand, 
In    lieu    deposed  his  own.    A  noon- 
tide  ray 
Through     branches    stealing,    gilded 

Isolt's  breast; 
Mark    closed    the    crevice    with    his 

hunting-glove. 
And  stealthily  withdrew.   The  queen, 

who  felt 

34 


Through  sleep   his   glances,   stirred, 

threw  out  an  arm, 
And  shook  the  bower;  the  glove,  from 

height  descending. 
With  ermine  brushed  her  cheek.  She 

opened  eyes, 
Looked  languidly,  then  wakened  with 

a  cry; 
Afoot  stood  Tristran,  in  his  hand  the 

weapon: 
Whose?  Lo,  within  his  grasp  a  gilded 

hilt, 
The   king's!     Dismayed,     the   exiles 

leapt  to  horse, 
Moresse  abandoned,  and   by   lonely 

paths 

35 


Went    flying   toward    the    wilderness 

of  Wales. 
Henceforward,  lady,  doth  proceed  the 

lay.w 

The    minstrel  hushed,    and  from  his 

instrument. 
Preparing,    drew    romantic  melody, 
Love-music  over-sweet,     that    in   its 

bosom 
Cherished    a  seed    of  contrary    emo- 
tion, 

36 

I 

To    prosper  in  its  death.     Prophetical, 
Once  and  again  arose  a  mocking  note, 
Like  upward    bubble  of  an  icy  fount 
O'erwashed     by    tepid    wave.        Such 

preface     o'er, 
He    sang,    with   interlude    for     every 

pause. 

37 

Tf)e  h^% 


The    alley     of     the    forest,       dim, 
thorny,    and    o'ergrown, 

Mystic,  as  though  a  wizard  had  cursed 
and    changed    to    stone 

Of    savage   region,     riders,    who     in 
their    merry    day. 

Far-glimmered   through    the  leafage, 
court-bound  and  laughing  gay. 

Neighbored  a  brook,  that  silent,  with 
rushes  crowned  the  track, 

Reposed    neath    arching    fir-root,   or 
hemlock  marred  and  black; 

Abandoned     by    the    pathway,   from 
height  cascaded  cool, 

In    water-leap    of  silver,    or   golden- 
gravelled  pool. 

41 


The  gorge  grew  deep  and  deeper  as 

bolder  rose  the  fell, 
Gray  rocks  were  freshly  plumed  with 

fern  and  blue  harebell; 
Beside    the    foamy   torrent,   a    table 

broad    and    dry, 
Between       eve-darkened     ridges,     a 

shining    sunset-sky. 
On    road    dismounted    Tristran,    his 

horse  by    bridle  led 
O'er    shale,    and  rolling  pebbles  that 

basined  the  brook-bed; 
In  hollow  recess  stabled,  tor  evening- 
fodder  brought 
Sweet    river-grass    by     armfuls,    and 

fragrant  fir-boughs  sought, 
42 


To   weave  the  nest  of  Isolt,  outwear- 
ied  by  their  flight. 


At    dawn    the    exiles    wakened,  and 
with  the  morrow  Hght 

As      anxiously     were     errant    along 
the  selfsame  way. 

Through  dark    and    dreadful    pine- 
wood,  where  fallen  columns  lay 

Long  age  of  man  to  rot,  and  framed 
a    ceiling    so 

That  bough  to   bare  bough  striding, 
a  woodsman  well  might  go 
43 


O'er    hidden    earth    a    fathom,    and 

finally  despair                                                     >! 
To   save  the  deer,  whose  carcass  lay 

arrow-pierced  there 
Within    a  bowshot's  circle.      At    last 

the  land   ascended, 
The   forest  cleared,   the  passage,  at  a 

wide  burning,  endec 
In    smoother    way,    by     mule-hoofs 

more  confidently  trod, 
And  black  with  charcoal-droppings. 

The  lane  ,that  now  they  rode, 
Through    blither    country  wandered, 

and  guided  to  a  glade, 
Where    old    oaks,    rising    domelike, 

lent  separate  sun  and  shade 
44 

To  dapple  deei -cropped  verdure.     A 
falling  rivulet, 

With   footpath  fringed,  by  music  at- 
tention drew,  and  let 

Through  interval  of  branches  appear 
a  windowed  cell, 

From    whose    foundation    forth    the 
water  seemed  to  well. 

Both   walls    and    roof   as    mossy    as 
ledges  of  the  stone. 

Tristran,  who  hoped  for  tidings  with- 
in that  hospice  lone. 

By    rising    path    ascended;    but    had 
not  paced  long, 

Ere    came   to   him   the  cadence  and 
swell  of  holy  song; 

45 


Wherefore   he   paused,    alighted,   set 

Isolt  down,  and  tied 
Against   a  bough    his    charger,    hung 

up  his  sword  beside, 
Then    footed    toward    the    chapel,  of 

decoration  bare. 
And  brown  the  frock  of  hermit  who 

mass  was  chanting  there; 
A    low    and  rustic  altar    was    draped 

with  woolen  cloth. 
The   knight     and  lady    lingered,    of 

worship  nothing  loth; 
Their  presence    the   room  darkened; 

devout,  the  celebrant 
In      pious      recollection      proceeded 

with  his  chant, 

46 


Pronounced  the  awful  scripture,  that 
through  a  mystery 

Doth  wafer-bread  transform  to  of- 
fered deity, 

And  made  the  elevation;  by  entrance 
of  the   cell, 

Upon  their  knees  before  him  Tris- 
tran  and  Isolt  fell; 

The  office  he  continued,  till  ut- 
tered missa  est. 

When  all  was  over,  Tristran  he 
studied,  and  addressed: 

«How,  exile,  bandit,  here?  In  noon- 
tide of  thy  fame 

Once  rally-word  of  Cornwall,  now 
traitor,  in  whose  name 


The  lust-fiend  singeth  matins!   What 

wage  receivest  thou? 
The    evergreen   thy  castle,    the  bear 

thy  comrade  now, 
A  wild  wolf  of  the  wood!))    Tristran, 

with  flushing  cheek: 
{(Old  man,  how  canst  thou  tell?    Thy 

years,  thy  tonsure,  speak; 
King    Mark    in  queenless    Cornwall 

no  palace  hath  so  fair; 
The   venison,    the  cresses,   with   her, 

more  perfect  fare 
Than  Virgil  the  enchanter's!))     Thus 

Tristran  in  his  pride, 
From  wall  where   he  had  risen;  Isolt, 

who  knelt  beside, 

48 

Threw  wide   Doth  arms,  shrieked  out, 
and  lay  on  pavement  prone, 

While  bursting     from  their    net,  her 
locks  concealed  the  stone: 

«Nay,  never    curse   him,    no!    If  we 
have  trespassed,  think. 

It    is     that  we      have     shared     the 
poison,  the  love-drink; 

Such    cup    my   mother    mingled   for 
binding  other  twain; 

Upon  the   sultry  sea  her  care   forgot 
Brengain; 

Hers    be   the    fault!))       The    monk: 
((What  benefit  therein. 

To  chasten  soul   that's   dead  in  tres- 
pass and  in  sin?)) 

49 


With    step   imperious   to   closet    he 

withdrew. 
Forth  from  the  hermitage  in  sadness 

fared  the  two, 
Within  a  burner's  hut  found  solace, 

and  abode. 
The    forest    and    the    stream    their 

nourishment  bestowed; 
Months  changed;  for  April,  glad  with 

rainbow-colored  sheen. 
Grave  August  donned  her  mantle  of 

deep  and  sober  green; 
The    years    were   full    accomplished, 

the  potion  lost  its  power; 
Arrived  a  destined  season,  and  struck 
the  fatal  hour, 

50 


Within  the    wood    lay    Tristran,    in 

covert  near  the  trace 
Whereby     the    game    descendeth    to 

reach  the  drinking-place; 
He   loosed    a  shaft;     straightforward 

the  gleaming  arrow  flew, 
And  the    fleet  stag  lay  stricken  both 

haunches  through  and    through; 
He  leapt   to  seize  the   quarry,    made 

bare  the  hunting-knife, 
And  with    o'er-easy  triumph  let  flow 

the  streaming  lite; 

51 


:m^li^! 

7) 

Then  paused  to   gaze,   absorbing  the          -^M^ 

temper  of  the  day,                                   W^ 

Its    mood    of    recollection,   its     veil           ^i 

of  sober  gray,                                         ^^ 

A  silence  that    forebodeth  the  falling       j 

ffi^ 

of  the  year.                                            j 

l^j 

He  mused:  «I  lurk  in  forest,  destroy 

i^^fj 

the  timid  deer; 

mi 

Afield,    this  moment,    Cornwall    her 

banner  doth  advance; 

Rnri 

I  see  the  pennon  shining,  behold  the 

levelled  lance; 

Ranks   meet,  and  shafts  are   broken;                 J 

knights  wheel ,  and  swords  are  out; 

Alas!    in  whirling    mellay  is  wanting 

my  war-shout. 

52 

^^^1 

^^i 

'4 

■ » * 


They  fly,  for  lack  of  me!))  The 
sullen  morning's  cloud 

Came  over,  and  o'er-darkened  a  tem- 
per hot  and  proud; 

Of  venery  forgetful,  apart  he  left 
the  game, 

Along  the  path  roved  pensive,  and 
toward  the  cottage  came. 


At    entrance    waited    Isolt,    and    his 

dismay  partook; 
In  silence  met  their  glances;  two  lives 

lay  in  the  look; 

53 


ii 

i^^    '"^-''JtirT 

On     surface,    swift   repulsion,   when 

the  heart,  satiate 
With  viand  of  its  craving,  from  hunger 

turns  toward  hate; 
Below,   the  human    terror,  if  voyager 

forlorn, 
Oarless  and  unbefriended,  behold  his 

vessel  borne 
Adown  the  leaping  rapid  with  fleeter, 

dreader  speed, 
While   murmureth  low  thunder,  and 

saving  shores  recede; 
Not  yet  hath  he  collected  his  courage 

for  the  fall. 
Embracing    every    passion,    and  still 

retaining  all, 

54 


Like  golden  armor,  meshes  of  closely 

woven  chain 
That  lately  blunted  arrows  of  misery 

and  pain, 
From   now,    to  Thought    and    Con- 
science will  leave  the  naked  life. 
Tristran  was  first  to  utter,  with  accent 

passion-rife: 
((What   hardship    hast  thou    suffered 

for  my  sake,  Isolt,  queen! 
Harsh  setting  of  thy  beauty  the  rude 

and  savage  scene! 
My  madness  curseth  Cornwall,  of  aid 

and  comfort  crost; 
Thy     maidens      sit    neglected,    their 

dower  and  wedlock  lost, 
55 


With  burners  of  the  forest  their  lady 

hid  the  while!)) 
She    presently   responded,    with  sad 

and  tender  smile: 
{(Go    seek  Ogrin    the   hermit:    be  all 

within  his  will, 
If  thy  desire  he  censure,  or  inward 
hope  fulfil.)) 


In  vicinage  of  Tintagel,  and  prospect 

of  its  wall. 
The  king  enjoyed  a  pleasance,  retreat 

of  flowers  all, 

56 


Rose-tangle,    lily-mead,    and  linden- 
alley  long. 

Of    verdure     fetlock-deep:    and  did 
thereto    belong 

A   royal  bower;   apart,  scant  furlong 
from  the  place. 

Where  beeches   one  by  one  enclosed 
a  circle-space, 

Below  a  pine,  that  storied  green  floors 
of  light  and  shade. 

An  ancient  fount  its  basin   and  step- 
ping-stone displayed; 

From    mouths    of  mossy    lions    the 
laughing  water  streamed. 

And    plashing    in    the    cistern,    gray 
marble  over-gleamed; 

57 


By  flower-crowned  channel  the  mer- 
ry rill  did  go, 

Beneath  the  house  dive  laughing,  and 
hence  emergent,  flow 

To  brim  the  neighboring  river.  At 
eve  of  hunting,  slept 

Below  that  roof  its  lord,  whose 
knights  about  him  kept 

Their  rest,  and  tapers  burned.  Red- 
golden  dawned  the  day; 

The  sovereign  woke;  dark-couchant 
his  drowsy  vassals,  lay. 

And  paled  the  waning  tapers.  A 
hand  the  window  smote, 

And  a  voice  called:  ((The  King!» 
Mark  wondered,  and  took  note; 
58 


A    rider  halted   by,   a  letter   slipt  to 

floor; 
The    gazer   leapt  from    couch,    and 

Tristran  viewed  once  more. 


Toward  palace-hall    of  Tintagel,    up 

marble  of  the  stair, 
Trooped  knights,  and  by  precedence 

were  ranked  on  benches  there; 
Their  ruler  throned  on  dais,  of  aspect 

dark  and  proud. 
His  chaplain  held  a  letter,  and  rising, 

read  aloud; 

S9 


«To    him     who     hath   of    Cornwall 
control  and  royal  right, 

Salute    and  greeting    sendeth    Ogrin 
the  Anchorite. 

King,  when    thy     lords    debated  thy 
marriage  in  the  hall, 

Twain    swallows    in    their    chaffer    a 
lady's  hair  let  fall. 

Ell-long,  pale-golden-gleaming;  then 
didst  thou  say  and  swear 

By  father's   soul  in  blessing,   to  wed 
no  other  fair 

Beside  the  world's  one  beauty;  to  seek 
her  island  home, 

Thy  nephew  on  adventure  hath  wan- 
dered ocean-foam; 

60 


Soon,  in  thy  jealous  frenzy, to  world's 

rebuke  and  blame. 
This  jewel  of  thine  owning  hast  des- 
tined for  the  flame. 
Then  thrown  away  on  lazars;  to  that 

accursed  band 
Hath  Tristran   meted  justice  denied 

by  thine  own  hand; 
Toward  safety   of  the   forest  did    he 

convey  the  queen; 
Thyself  hast  seen  them  lying,  a  naked 

sword  between. 
Declareth  thy  confessor,  not  so  may- 

est  thou  disown 
Her   part   by  vow   conceded  in   thee 

and  in  thy  throne; 

62 


To  her  unbar  thy  heaven,  hereafter 
unto  thee 

As  thou  hast  hope  that  Peter  may 
turn  with  ready  key. 

Thus  saith  Ogrin:  thine  answer  sus- 
pend to  the  Red  Cross.)) 

The  chaplain  read  no  further.    Mark 

Hstened  at  a  loss, 
Half  loth,  half  inly  yielding.       He 

bade  his  knights  bestow 
Their  counsel;  words  were  bartered, 

and  looks  shot  to  and  fro, 

63 

Till  spake  with  words  of  wisdom  an 

ancient  vavasor: 
((The    man    who     loseth  jewel    that 

quickened  him  before 
With   confidence   and  courage,   hath 

sorrow  and  heart-pain, 
Till  time   that  he   recover   that  pearl 

of  price  again; 
Below    if    he    espy     a  gleam    of  his 

desire. 
He  hath  no  pride,  but  stoopeth,  to 

rescue  from  the  mire. 
And   carry   into  palace,   where    pure 

it  rayeth  so, 
That   oft   for   evening-banquet   unlit 

may  candles  go, 

64 


While     feasters     linger    peaceful    in 

radiancy  mild. 
So  she,  our  gentle  planet  that  vanished 

in  the  wild, 
And  left  our  joy  benighted,  henceforth 

may  reappear 
F>om   long  eclipse    more  lucent,  and 

reign  in    heavens  clear. 
Full-orbed  moon  of  Cornwall.      For 

Tristran,  let  him  go 
Abroad    to  serve,    where  rulers  their 

friendship  may  bestow 
On  knight  that  lendeth  sword,  and 

with  heroic  essay 
Doth    Fortune     court.       Elapsed    a 

twelvemonth  and  a  day, 

65 


In  Cornwall  live  his  welcome,  when 
he  hath  yielded  oath, 

Upon  the  saints  avouching  his  inno- 
cence and  troth.)) 

The  barons  praised  the  speaker,  and 
Mark  declared  assent; 

His  chaplain  wrote  a  letter,  and  forth 
the  summons  went. 


Pale  shone  the  yellow  dawning,  and 

dewy-white  the  road. 
As  over  march  of  Cornwall  Tristran 

and  Isolt  rode, 

66 


In  russet  vesture  kirtled  like  burners 

of  the  wood. 
With   prime    emerged    from    forest, 

their  journey  they  pursued, 
Till  highways  twain    protecting,  rose 

holy  the  Red  Cross. 
On  verdure  they  alighted,  and  foliage 

across. 
Had  glimpse  of  gold  and  azure,  the 

splendor  and  the  sheen 
Of  knights  by  Mark  commanded  for 

home-bringing  his  queen. 
In  arms  they  clasped  each  other,  heart 

beating  faint  to  heart; 
Now    time    had    come  to    sever;  yet 

breathing,  how  depart 

67 


From  courage  and  refreshment,  relief 

and  gratitude. 
From    privileged    asylum    against    a 

world  at  feud? 
With    sustenance    of  living,    seemed 

life  itself  would  cease. 
The  gleams   draw  near   and   nearer; 

each  other  they  release, 
And    quiet  on   grassy   meadow   wait 

linking  hand  in  hand. 
The   seneschal    advanced,    departing 

from  his  band; 
He   spake  no   word,  lit  down,  from 

his  own  shoulder  drew 
A  mantle  rich   with  vair,   and   over 

Isolt  threw; 

68 


Undid  a  belted  sword,  bestowed  with 

courteous  hand 
On  Tristran,  and  in  Heu  received  his 

master's  brand. 
He     becked:  obedient,    advanced    a 

youth,  who  led 
For  Isolt's   sake  a    mule,  fleet-paced 

and  gently  bred. 
To  halt   below   the  cross,  with  hand 

on  jewelled  rein. 
Milk-white     the    mule,    and    argent 

shone  head-gear  and  lorain. 
But    ivory    the  saddle,   a    craftsman 

wise  had  wrought 
Five  years,  and    through  the  carving 

delivered  his  life-thought: 
69 


Upon   the  mount  knelt  Isaac,   both 
arms  behind  him  bound, 

In   childish  terror  gazing;   his   father 
on  that  ground 

Stood  with  averted  eyes,  and  raised 
a  curving  sword; 

From  firmament  descended  the  angel 
of  the  Lord. 

In    front  so  much;  the  rear  a  sterner 
legend  bore; 

Jephthah     on    way     to     meet,    his 
daughter  danced  o'er, 

Arms  wide  for  her  embrace,  and  tres- 
ses backward  blown; 

Toward    Heaven   the  knight  raised 
palms,  in  attitude  of  stone. 
70 


The  baron  raised  his  dame,  and  with 
the  lady  rode 

Where  clustering  the  lances  of  his 
companions  showed; 

Before,  twelve  maids  a-row  sat  mount- 
ed on  the  green; 

A  little  Isolt  reddened;  they  bowed, 
and  bowed  the  queen. 

The  spaces  of  the  greenwood  were 
lit  with  colors  clear; 

Below  the  cross  stood  Tristran,  and 
saw  them  disappear. 


71 


In  Tintagel,  at  morning  prime,   the 
air  with   freshness  beamed; 

Saints   rang    from   all   their   belfries, 
and  forth  the  city  streamed 

Toward    minster,   where   their    lady, 
from  exile  saved,  should  greet 

Saint    Samson,    her    protector,    with 
thanks  and  praises  meet. 

She    walked    not    penitential,    gray- 
smocked  and  ancle-bare. 

But    robe    of   clinging    purple,    and 
mantle  starry-fair. 

In    front,    twelve    maidens   pairwise, 
whose  order  children   four. 

White-innocent,  preceded,  and  Corn- 
wall's banner  bore. 

72 


She    knelt    by    the    main    altar,   and 

adoration  paid, 
While  anthems  clear  and  clearer  rose 

climbing  grade    on   grade 
The  shining  stair  celestial.  She  signed: 

advanced  a  child, 
Who    bore  upon  both  elbows  a  cloth 

irradiate  mild,  ;i 

Of  pale  and  shimmering  change,  that 

gloriously  told 
The  passion  of  the   saint;  such  web 

of  mystic  gold  ih 

A  bishop  blest;  from  him,  an  acolyte 

received, 
And  reverent,  draped  the  altar.  Her 

offering  achieved, 

73 


Retired  the  queen,  to  find  by  minster- 
steps  prepared 

Her  palfrey  and  her  knights;  with 
seneschal,  she  fared 

To  court,  where  welcomed  Mark  his 
wife  at  mounting-stone, 

Kissed  on  the  lips,  and  led  to  hall 
and  ivory  throne. 


At  sea,  from  purple  heights  swooped 
down  a  freshening  gale, 

Tugged  at  the  lines,  and  bellied  the 
square  and  painted  sail. 

74 


With    forward  face  sat   Tristran,   in 

that  inanimate  mood 
When   the  exhausted  spirit,  resigned 

to  lassitude, 
Worn  out  by  fruitless    labor,    of  idle 

hardship   tired, 
Weary   of  all  it  hoped  for,  expected, 

or  admired. 
Doth  feel  nor  consolation,    defiance, 

nor  distress, 
But  only  that  it  fainteth  in  world-wide 

loneliness. 
He   made  a  thoughtless   motion;    an 

idly-dropping  hand 
On  swordhilt  smote;   half  conscious, 

he  bared  the  shining  brand, 
75 


His   own,  King   Mark's   no   longer! 

As  reek  bursts  into  flame, 
Such  upward-soaring  ardor  his  spirit 

overcame. 
As     burneth    warrior,    passioned  to 

change  in  battle-hour 
Dull     wistfulness    to     courage,     and 

pining  into  power; 
He  heard  the  northwind  whistle,  be- 
held the  billows  flow: 
((Roll   on,    blue    Waves   my  cousins! 

Thou, Wind,  my  brother,  blow! 
He  turned  toward  fading  Cornwall; 

horizonward  did  dwell, 
Vague,    aery,     and     cloudlike,      the 
towers  of  Tintagel. 

76 


The  song  was  ended,  but  its  after-play 
Reversed  the  prelude;  for  the  lighter 

strain. 
That  latterly  had  risen  up  and  reigned 
Emergent  from  love-languish,  opened 

now 
The  secret  of  its  being,  and  revealed 
A  grieving   heart   of  deeper   melan- 
choly. 
Isolda,      who     had     listened     with 
contempt, 

77 


Unsoftened    by   the  plaintive  music, 

cried: 
((Clothes,  and  a  throne!))      Half  jest- 
ing,  Adela: 
((Think,     child,  to    live  on  berries!)) 

For  her  part, 
The    maid    looked  boundless   scorn. 

The  countess  laughed. 
And    putting  all  her   mind  upon  her 

work, 
Among  her  silk   preferred  a  vermeil 

skein, 
To    lend    the     dragon's    tongue    an 

ardency. 


78 


ESSAY 

I.    OPINIONS 

The  stoty  is  known  only  through  French  Uterature;  but 
inasmuch  as  the  scene  is  laid  in  Celtic  lands,  it  has  usually 
been  assumed  that  the  romancers  must  have  used  Celtic 
material,  communicaied  through  bilingual  reciters,  Welsh 
or  Breton,  whose  prose  narrations  may  have  transmitted 
the  substance  of  an  early  Cymric  epos. 

The  distinguished  advocate  of  this  opinion  was  Gaston 
Paris,  who  considered  that  modes  of  life  and  ideas  show  a 
barbaric  quahty  incompatible  with  admission  of  French 
authorship;  from  a  divine  and  mythologic  status,  the  chief 
actors  have  been  reduced  to  romantic  proportions. 

Of  late  years  has  prevailed  a  doctrine  that  the  several 
romances  are  to  be  regarded,  not  as  independently  derived 
from  Cymric  or  other  sources,  but  rather  as  variants  of  a 
single  French  original. 

As  the  result  of  an  elaborate  inquiry  contained  in  the 
second  volume  of  his  Thomas  (1905),  Joseph  Bedier  con- 
cluded that  the  common  source  was  an  Anglo-Norman 
poem  belonging  to  the  early  twelfth  century;  Celtic  influence 
he  allowed  but  minimized;  the  love-tale  he  thought  purely 
a  reflection  of  French  chivalry. 

The  verse  above  printed  in  part  outhnes  the  older  form 
of  the  tale,  respecting  which  the  following  pages  will  furnish 
further  information.  Certain  individual  opinions  are  also 
briefly  indicated;  details  and  references  may  be  sought  in 
the  work  of  Bedier. 

81 


II.    MATERIAL 

The  history  is  known  in  three  forms,  namely,  two  rhymed 
versions  of  the  twelfth  century,  and  a  prose  romance  of  the 
thirteenth  century. 

The  older  poetic  version  is  preserved  in  outline  through 
the  German  translation  of  Eilhart  of  Oberg  (before  1200). 
Affiliated  is  a  fragment  (about  forty-five  hundred  lines)  of  a 
poet  named  Berol  (edition  c.  1200). 

Ihe  later  account  in  verse  is  the  composition  of  an  author 
named  Thomas,  whose  work  exists  only  in  fragments,  but 
in  outline  is  preserved  through  the  translations  of  Robert, 
author  of  a  Norse  saga  (1226),  and  Gottfried  of  Strassburg 
(before  1220);  based  on  Thomas  is  also  the  Enghsh  poem 
called  "Sir  Tristrem"  {c.  1300). 

The  prose  (from  c.  1230  X)  is  in  the  main  an  imaginative 
composition,  which  in  its  earlier  portion  retains  the  skeleton 
of  a  narrative  akin  to  Eilhart's;  in  this  version,  the  tale  has 
been  completely  merged  in  Arthurian  romance. 

Important  also  are  two  episodic  poems,  the  Chievrefoil  of 
Marie  of  France  {c.  1160.?),  and  a  lay  reciting  an  adventure 
of  Tristran  in  the  character  of  Fool,  noteworthy  as  giving 
in  summary  an  action  akin  to  Eilhart's.  A  later  lay  on 
the  same  theme  follows  the  story  of  Thomas. 

Several  works  otherwise  unconnected  with  the  cycle  have 
episodes,  which,  however,  bestow  no  valuable  information, 
while  folk-books  and  translations  in  several  languages  de- 
rive from  one  or  other  of  the  sources  already  mentioned. 

82 


III.   THEME 


The  Story  describes  the  manner  in  which  a  young  knight, 
charged  with  conveying  the  bride  of  his  uncle  and  benefactor, 
through  the  influence  of  a  philter  proves  unfaithful  to  his 
trust,  and  is  led  to  maintain  illicit  relations  with  the  lady. 

As  usual  in  fully  developed  romances,  the  tale  begins 
with  an  account  of  the  parentage  and  youth  of  the  hero; 
after  such  preface,  the  story  is  divisible  into  two  portions. 

The  first  part  relates  the  inception  of  the  attachment, 
the  secret  intercourse  of  the  lovers,  and  their  flight  into 
the  forest;  the  action  ends  with  the  restoration  of  the  queen 
to  her  husband,  and  the  departure  of  the  hero  from  the  realm. 

The  second  part  recounts  the  foreign  marriage  of  the  hero, 
a  revival  of  his  former  passion,  and  repeated  visits  to  his 
uncle's  country;  the  story  concludes  with  the  death  of  the 
lovers  in  a  single  day. 

IV.    INFANCY 

Rivalen,  king  of  Lothian  in  Scotland,  being  desirous  to 
see  more  of  the  world  than  the  hmitations  of  his  petty 
realm  allow,  takes  service  with  Marc,  king  of  Cornwall,  at 
the  time  engaged  in  hostilities  with  Ireland.  Here  he  at- 
tracts the  attention  of  the  king's  sister,  whom  he  finally 
persuades  to  elope;  at  sea,  she  dies  in  childbirth,  leaving  a 
son,  who,  as  destroyer  of  his  mother,  receives  the  significant 
name  Tristran  (Griever,  that  is  to  say.  Maker  of  Grief). 

83 


IV.    INFANCY 

Having  attained  the  age  of  fifteen  years  (when  a  hero 
of  romance  ought  to  begin  his  career),  the  youth  desires  to 
distinguish  himself  (and  obtain  knighthood)  in  a  foreign 
country;  his  father  approves  his  plan  and  gives  him  a  ship; 
accompanied  by  Governal,  he  lands  in  Cornwall,  where  he 
remains  incognito,  and  enters  the  service  of  his  uncle. 

By  Thomas  this  brief  introduction  has  been  expanded  ten- 
fold. Blancheflor  flies  with  Rivalen  to  his  kingdom  of 
Ermenie,  where  she  is  married;  her  husband  falls  by  the 
hand  of  his  feudal  lord  the  Duke  of  Britanny  and  she  dies  of 
grief;  the  infant  is  cared  for  by  the  faithful  marshal,  who 
brings  him  up  as  his  own  son.  The  youth  is  stolen  by  tra- 
ders, who  are  terrified  by  a  storm,  and  land  him  on  the  coast 
of  Cornwall;  he  comes  to  court,  where  he  pleases  the  king 
by  knowledge  of  venery  and  music.  The  marshal  seeks 
and  finds  Tristran,  whose  rank  is  now  revealed,  and  whom 
the  king  accepts  as  heir;  he  receives  knighthood,  and  begins 
a  chivalric  career  by  avenging  his  father. 

In  the  Prose,  nomenclature  and  scenery  are  freely  altered. 
Helyabel,  sister  of  Marc,  king  of  Cornouaille,  marries  Meli- 
adus  of  Leonois.  While  hunting,  her  husband  is  detained 
by  an  enchantress;  Helyabel  seeks  him  in  the  forest,  where 
she  brings  forth  a  babe  and  succumbs.  The  child  is  saved 
by  Merlin,  and  committed  to  the  keeping  of  Governal.  In 
order  to  avoid  the  persecutions  of  a  cruel  stepmother,  the 
tutor  takes  his  pupil  from  the  realm,  and  finally  arrives  in 
Cornwall,  where  Tristran  abides  unknown. 

84 


V.    FIRST    part:    in    CORNWALL 

The  pivot  of  the  action  is  the  partaking  of  the  love-drink; 
what  precedes  is  preparatory,  what  follows  consequent. 

The  latter  portion  of  the  narrative  describes  secret  inter- 
views, discovery,  flight,  and  exile;  such  would  naturally  be 
the  course  of  any  secret  attachment.  The  antecedent  chap- 
ters, however,  constitute  an  artistic  construction,  which  be- 
comes comprehensible  only  through  attention  to  the  design. 

The  romance  belongs  to  a  class  of  mediaeval  compositions 
which  exalt  the  authority  of  sexual  love  by  emphasizing  its 
victory  over  gentile  and  social  obhgations.  On  the  hero's 
side,  connection  by  marriage  makes  the  amour  in  a  religious 
sense  inexcusable;  from  a  chivalric  point  of  view,  breach  of 
sacred  trust  forms  the  one  unpardonable  offence.  On  her 
part,  the  heroine  is  bound  to  avenge  the  blood  of  a  kinsman. 
These  obstacles,  strong  as  God  and  man  can  erect,  are  in  a 
moment  swept  away  by  the  force  of  conquering  desire. 

The  transition,  if  unexpected,  would  be  violent  and  repul- 
sive: it  therefore  becomes  necessary  to  establish  ties  having 
a  tendency  to  unite  the  pair.  Each  is  made  preserver  of 
the  other,  the  maid  by  healing  an  incurable  wound,  the 
man  through  destruction  of  a  devouring  monster. 

The  conception  is  skilfully  carried  out  in  an  elaborate 
narrative,  which  makes  the  first  achievement  of  the  youthful 
knight  consist  in  slaying  the  uncle  of  the  heroine,  an  exploit 
followed  by  two  journeys  to  her  country,  in  which  the  hero 
appears  successively  as  rescued  and  rescuer. 

85 


VI.    ISOLT   AS    HEALER 

On  the  island,  Tristran  sets  adrift  the  boat  of  his  enemy 
(as  sign  of  the  result).  That  Morholt  employs  a  poisoned 
weapon  indicates  semi-demonic  quality  (so  Aliscans,  1123). 
He  loses  a  hand,  flies  to  the  boat,  receives  a  wound  not 
immediately  fatal,  and  is  sent  to  Ireland;  arrived,  his  men 
summon  Isolt,  who  hastens,  but  finds  him  dead  (the  medical 
skill  of  the  heroine  is  thus  ingeniously  indicated).  Eilhart 
makes  Tristran  take  his  harp  for  solace  on  his  adventurous 
voyage;  other  narrators  add,  that  on  the  Irish  coast  the  hero 
attracts  attention  by  harp-play;  this  trait  also  may  have  stood 
in  Eilhart's  source,  but  have  been  overlooked.  Tristran  gives 
himself  out  as  Pro,  a  minstrel  who  is  also  a  trader,  and  is  healed 
through  remedies  sent  by  Isolt,  whom  he  does  not  meet; 
only  in  his  second  journey  does  he  use  the  name  Trantris. 
Other  accounts  make  the  hero  call  himself  Trantris  also  in 
his  first  visit,  and  introduce  him  to  Isolt,  whose  music-master 
he  becomes.  Seeing  that  the  tendency  of  these  variations 
is  to  effect  a  closer  connection  between  different  chapters 
of  the  history,  I  suppose  (contrary  to  Bedier)  that  as  in 
other  cases,  so  here  also,  Eilhart's  narrative  may  be  accepted 
as  representing  the  original  romance.  If  so,  the  agreement 
of  the  later  versions  only  shows  a  common  secondary  source. 

The  island  of  the  duel,  which  in  Eilhart  is  anonymous, 
Folie  Tristran  and  the  Prose  call  the  Isle  of  Saint  Samson. 
Now  this  name  is  mentioned  by  Crestien,  whose  lost  poem 
may  probably  have  been  the  required  intermediary. 

86 


VII.    TRISTRAN   AS    DELIVERER 

The  theme  of  the  dragon-slayer  and  the  impostor  is  known 
to  have  been  from  early  Hellenic  time  part  of  European 
and  Asiatic  folk-lore. 

According  to  Eilhart,  Isolt,  having  reached  the  scene  of 
combat,  observes  the  track  of  a  steed  not  shod  in  Ireland, 
and  finds  a  charred  shield;  the  knight  is  sought,  and  the 
gleam  of  the  helmet  perceived.  In  the  bath  scene,  Isolt 
only  threatens  the  hero  with  the  vengeance  of  her  father, 
and  does  not  (as  in  Thomas)  herself  brandish  the  weapon. 
She  acts  with  entire  independence;  it  is  Brengain,  not  her 
mother,  who  counsels  her  to  forgive  the  guest.  On  the  day 
appointed  for  the  trial,  the  friends  of  Tristran,  who  have 
been  privately  summoned,  appear  in  splendid  attire,  and 
attract  universal  attention;  Isolt  then  makes  her  appearance, 
holding  by  the  hand  the  true  slayer  of  the  dragon.  The 
impostor  recedes,  and  Tristran,  acknowledged  to  be  victor, 
prefers  his  suit  on  behalf  of  his  uncle,  alleging  that  he  him- 
self is  too  young  to  marry. 

In  later  versions,  Isolt  naturally  recognizes  her  old  friend 
Trantris,  who  is  presently  discovered  to  be  identical  with 
Tristran;  the  latter,  having  been  pardoned,  proceeds  to  in- 
form the  ladies  respecting  his  status  as  ambassador;  such 
frankness  from  an  acquaintance  might  be  required  by  deli- 
cacy, but  in  the  case  of  an  unknown  knight  would  scarce 
have  been  proper  until  his  title  had  been  proved;  here  also 
Eilhart's  narrative  seems  to  me  consistent  and  earher. 

87 


VIII.  THE   LOVE-DRINK 

In  this  central  chapter  appears  a  striking  contrast  between 
different  types  of  the  story.  While  other  versions  describe 
the  effect  of  the  potion  as  permanent,  Eilhart  and  Berol  make 
its  influence  to  have  been  temporary;  such  evanescence, 
far  from  being  accidental,  is  postulated  by  their  most  inter- 
esting passages.  The  prevailing  view,  accepted  even  by 
Bedier,  has  held  the  more  sentimental  conception  to  have 
been  original,  and  viewed  the  repentance  of  the  lovers  as 
a  piece  of  later  moralizing.  To  me  the  reverse  judgment 
appears  acceptable;  I  see  no  reason  for  setting  aside  the 
authority  of  Eilhart,  whose  account  regularly  exhibits  the 
oldest  accessible  form  of  the  history;  the  change  from  a 
transitory  to  a  perpetual  enchantment  would  be  in  the  usual 
Hne  of  completer  romantization;  in  the  ensuing  narrative, 
we  perceive  that  the  lovers  have  become  free  agents,  who 
voluntarily  arrange  a  separation  intended  to  be  final. 

The  philter  is  to  be  administered  on  the  wedding  night, 
by  the  mother  of  the  bride  or  her  representative.  It  seems 
possible  that  such  presentation  may  depend  on  a  survival 
of  ancient  marriage  custom.  It  is  easy  to  conceive  what 
superstitions  might  attach  themselves  to  such  a  practice,  and 
how  speculations  might  arise  in  regard  to  the  consequences 
of  mistake.  Yet  since  no  similar  French  usage  is  attested, 
the  suggestion  can  be  offered  only  by  way  of  conjecture,  and 
as  indicative  of  one  method  in  which  the  development  might 
conceivably  have  been  effected. 


IX.    CONCEALMENT  AND   DISCOVERY 

The  delusions  of  the  Deceived  Husband  furnish  a  theme 
inexhaustibly  amusing  to  mediaeval  readers.  The  king, 
who  puts  implicit  confidence  in  his  nephew,  will  not  listen 
to  accusers,  but  in  the  end  has  ocular  evidence  of  over-famil- 
iarity and  excludes  his  kinsman  from  the  privileges  of  the 
bedchamber.  Tristran  proposes  to  leave  the  realm,  but 
must  first  visit  his  mistress.  A  dwarf  versed  in  astrology 
has  foreknowledge  of  the  interview,  and  notifies  the  king, 
who  is  concealed  in  the  branches  of  a  pine  overhanging  the 
well.  His  shadow  is  observed,  and  the  conversation  ingen- 
iously directed  in  such  manner  as  to  mislead  an  auditor; 
the  hero,  who  declares  his  intention  of  going  abroad,  entreats 
the  intercession  of  the  queen,  to  the  end  that  he  may  be  en- 
abled to  make  an  appearance  corresponding  with  his  rank; 
on  the  ground  of  her  husband's  anger  she  declines.  Marc, 
satisfied  by  what  he  has  heard,  humbles  himself  before  his 
wife,  and  restores  Tristran's  former  authority.  The  dwarf, 
anxious  to  retrieve  his  reputation,  obtains  permission  to 
make  another  experiment;  Tristran  is  charged  with  a  message 
to  King  Arthur  at  Carlisle,  while  his  uncle  announces  an 
intention  of  absence;  the  chamber  is  guarded,  and  the  hero 
taken;  fresh  blood-stains  preclude  the  possibility  of  denial. 
The  king,  whose  fury  is  proportional  to  his  former  faith,  is 
resolved  to  destroy  the  guilty  pair.  In  vain  the  friendly 
seneschal  urges  that  an  accused  knight  is  entitled  to  a  trial; 
in  indignation  Dinas  withdraws  to  his  estates,  but  on  the 

89 


IX.    CONCEALMENT   AND    DISCOVERY 

way,  meets  Tristran,  who  is  being  led  to  execution;  he  per- 
suades the  guards  to  leave  the  prisoner  unbound,  and  an 
escape  follows.  With  Go  vernal,  the  lovers  remain  in  the 
forest,  where  they  are  soon  joined  by  Tristran's  hound 
Hudent;  the  dog  is  trained  to  overcome  his  habit  of  baying 
on  the  trail,  and  to  follow  the  chase  in  silence. 

According  to  modern  ideas,  the  honor  of  the  husband 
is  tarnished  by  cruelty;  mediaeval  readers  would  have  found 
in  his  conduct  only  the  legitimate  severity  of  a  strict  ruler, 
and  been  prone  to  admire  rather  than  censure.  It  was,  no 
doubt,  in  order  to  prevent  transfer  of  sympathy  that  later 
authors  chose  to  describe  the  king  as  a  malicious  weakling. 

The  Prose  introduces  an  episode  in  which  the  hero  is 
made  to  rescue  Isolt  from  the  hands  of  a  former  lover,  who 
has  obtained  from  Marc  the  promise  of  an  unlimited  boon, 
and  as  his  guerdon  demanded  the  queen;  the  trait  serves  the 
purpose  of  adding  another  link  to  the  obligations  which 
indissolubly  unite  the  lovers;  in  more  fantastic  form,  a 
corresponding  incident  is  related  by  Thomas.  Now,  in  his 
Lancelot,  Crestien  of  Troyes  is  pleased  to  recount  a  similar 
adventure,  in  which  Guenievre  is  surrendered  by  Arthur, 
but  delivered  by  the  hero  of  the  poem.  The  resemblance, 
combined  with  other  similar  cases  of  correspondence,  war- 
rants a  behef  that  in  the  Arthurian  work  Crestien  recast 
situations  borrowed  from  the  story  of  Tristran,  such  as  he 
found  current,  and  which  he  had  probably  already  narrated 
in  his  own  lost  version  of  the  Tristran  romance. 

90 


IX.    CONCEALMENT   AND    DISCOVERY 

Thomas  continues  the  narration  in  a  manner  peculiar  to 
himself.  After  the  chamber  scene,  the  counsellors  of  the 
king  advise  that  the  queen  shall  be  required  to  justify  her- 
self by  legal  process;  she  elects  to  undergo  the  ordeal  of 
handling  hot  iron.  The  hero,  after  assisting  her  in  this 
difficulty,  withdraws  to  Wales,  where  he  slays  a  giant,  and 
whence  he  sends  Isolt  the  present  of  a  fairy  hound.  At  her 
recommendation,  he  returns  to  Tintagel;  the  suspicions  of 
the  husband  revive,  and  the  lovers  are  banished. 

In  her  lay,  Marie  makes  Tristran  retire  to  his  native 
country  of  South  Wales,  whence  he  makes  a  visit  to  Corn- 
wall; he  is  afterwards  recalled  by  the  king.  Marie's  account 
is  incompatible  with  any  existing  version  of  the  tale;  yet, 
inasmuch  as  she  notes  the  deaths  of  the  lovers  in  one  day, 
it  must  imply  a  similar  narrative. 

According  to  Eilhart,  in  the  fountain  scene,  when  Tris- 
tran professes  an  intent  to  abandon  the  country,  he  declares 
that  his  armor  has  been  impounded  by  this  uncle  (so  Berol, 
1.  204),  and  entreats  the  queen  to  request  its  release.  The 
imphcation  seems  to  be  that  the  king  has  required  security 
for  the  appearance  of  his  nephew  before  a  court  of  his  peers, 
and  that,  aware  of  his  bad  cause,  and  consequently  unw^ill- 
ing  to  accept  the  ordeal  of  battle,  the  hero  prefers  to  fly. 
Such,  in  Amis  and  Amiles,  is  the  course  pursued  by  the 
former,  when  accused  of  intimacy  with  the  princess.  In 
the  extant  Tristran,  the  circumstances  appear  to  have  been 
glossed;  we  obtain,  perhaps,  a  glimpse  of  an  earlier  form 
of  the  story,  in  which  the  movement  was  more  energetic. 

91 


X.    EXILE   AND    RETURN 

In  this  section  the  narratives  of  Eilhart  and  Berol,  while 
dependent  on  a  common  source,  yet  differ  widely.  The 
German  poem  is  a  bare  paraphrase,  the  French  an  expanded 
and  decorated  recast. 

The  conception  is  striking.  The  lovers  linger  in  a  wood 
near  Tintagel,  and  after  discovery  fly  to  the  depths  of  the 
wilderness,  there  to  endure  the  usual  hardships  of  exile,  which 
are  brooked  with  equanimity  so  long  as  the  magic  lasts.  As 
soon  as  the  veil  of  enchantment  drops,  they  open  their  eyes, 
behold  their  situation  as  the  world  sees  it,  find  their  status 
intolerable,  and  lose  no  moment  in  arranging  a  separation 
and  return  to  society.  In  promoting  this  choice,  material 
sufferings  play  a  part  more  effective  than  the  edifications 
of  the  preacher. 

The  scene  is  dependent  on  the  idea  that  the  love-drink 
was  meant  to  have  but  temporary  effect.  Versions  of  the 
later  class,  when  the  influence  of  the  philter  is  regarded  as 
life-long,  have  no  room  for  such  description;  with  Thomas 
the  forest  residence  becomes  an  idyl,  in  which  the  abode  of 
a  giant  furnishes  shelter,  and  affection  precludes  care  for  food. 

Which  of  these  conceptions  is  in  order  of  time  prior  ^  It 
is  easy  to  understand  how  the  constant  tendency  toward 
romantization  should  obliterate  the  notion  of  repentance, 
but  impossible  to  understand  a  reversal  of  the  process.  The 
intervention  of  the  hermit  can  belong  only  to  a  scene  like 
Berol's;    now  the  appearance  of  the  name  Ogrin  in  Folie 

92 


X.    EXILE    AND    RETURN 

Tristran  furnishes  evidence  that  the  activity  of  this  person- 
age belonged  also  to  the  original  romance. 

The  effect  is  weakened  by  the  sequel,  in  w^hich  the  reader 
finds  himself  once  more  mired  in  the  bog  of  intrigue;  he 
v^ishes  that  the  story  had  ended  with  the  queen's  return, 
and  is  inclined  to  accept  the  suggestion  that  there  may  have 
really  been  a  time  in  which  it  did  so  terminate. 

It  is  true  that  Eilhart  provides  for  a  continuation;  the 
hero  makes  Isolt  a  present  of  his  hound,  and  the  dog  is 
afterwards  utilized  in  the  action  (Berol,  by  way  of  addition, 
contributes  the  gift  on  the  queen's  part  of  a  ring).  How- 
ever, just  before  this  mention,  we  read:  "Up  rode  King 
Marc,  took  the  queen,  and  kept  her  with  love  for  many 
years."  This  notice  may  once  have  ended  the  history;  the 
second  hand,  who  appended  a  sequel  and  in  some  measure 
recast  the  first  half  of  the  tale,  may  well  have  appended  the 
gift  which  serves  to  attach  a  continuation. 

Eilhart,  in  describing  the  efficacy  of  the  potion,  affirms 
that  it  was  calculated  to  act  in  full  force  for  four  years,  and 
subsequently  in  a  modified  degree  to  endure  through  life. 
Such  lines  may  very  well  have  stood  in  his  source;  but  the 
nature  of  the  action  makes  it  plain  that  the  poet  who  so 
forcibly  sketched  the  misery  of  the  forest  could  have  enter- 
tained no  such  sophisticated  idea;  with  him,  the  efficacy 
of  the  draught  was  conceived  as  completely  vanishing,  as 
leaving  the  lovers  to  the  hght  of  common  day  and  the  ac- 
cepted judgments  of  the  world. 

93 


X.    EXILE    AND    RETURN 

The  opinion  of  Bedier,  that  a  story  which  ended  with 
final  separation  would  not  be  artistic  and  could  never  have 
been  popular,  does  not  appear  to  me  entirely  acceptable. 
The  queen  is  restored  under  the  assumption  of  innocence, 
a  pretext  sufficient  to  salve  marital  pride.  In  an  Irish 
tale  having  a  similar  theme,  that  of  Diarmid  and  Grainne, 
the  lady  ultimately  falls  into  the  hands  of  her  husband;  and 
an  early  Anglo-Norman  might  have  opined  that  experience 
and  probabiHty  favored  such  result. 

There  are  two  ways  in  which  the  evolution  might  have 
been  effected;  either  the  poem  (like  Crestien's  Perceval)  might 
in  the  first  instance  have  remained  unfinished  or  else  (like 
Crestien's  Lancelot)  the  romance  may  have  been  design- 
edly episodic,  and  the  reader  left  to  gather  the  future  fort- 
unes of  the  hero  from  other  romances  in  the  time  familiar. 

When  discovered  in  the  wood,  the  exiles  are  separated  by 
a  drawn  sword.  The  allusion  is  to  a  ritual  act,  in  which  the 
sanctity  of  a  lady  is  indicated;  as,  in  Amis  and  AmiUs,  the 
former  by  this  symbol  betokens  respect  for  the  wife  of  a 
friend.  The  trait  seems  out  of  place  in  a  narrative  in  which 
the  potency  of  the  love-draught  is  represented  as  still  opera- 
tive. In  Eilhart,  the  pledge  of  chastity  must  be  set  down  as 
only  more  ignoble  deception;  that  such  cannot  have  been 
the  original  intent  is  evidenced  by  the  simple  beauty  of  the 
narrative.  To  me  it  appears  that  we  have  a  second  instance 
in  which  the  reader  may  glance  between  the  lines  of  the 
extant  narration,  and  indistinctly  make  out  an    antecedent 

94 


X.    EXILE   AND    RETURN 

Stage,  in  which  the  movement  was  more  rapid,  and  the  en- 
chantment less  perennial. 

XI.    SECOND    part:    in    BRITTANY 

The  romancers  accumulate  obstacles  in  order  to  glorify 
the  triumph  of  passion.  One  would  think  that  in  this 
direction  the  limit  had  been  attained;  the  hero,  however, 
has  not  yet  been  provided  with  a  wife  to  neglect;  this  re- 
source is  now  embraced,  and  the  rivalry  of  heroine  and  anti- 
heroine  furnishes  interest  inexhaustible. 

The  action  is  repetitive;  we  are  presented  with  a  second 
Isolt,  with  renewed  secret  visits  to  her  rival,  with  new  attempts 
at  arrest  and  new  escapes,  with  a  second  wound  and  inter- 
vention of  the  heroine  as  healer.  According  to  accepted 
rules  of  interpretation,  such  duphcation  should  be  construed 
as  implying  the  activity  of  a  second  hand;  the  conclusion 
adopted  on  other  grounds  is  thus  confirmed,  that  the  later 
half  of  the  romance  has  been  superadded. 

The  tale  ought  now  to  recite  the  adventures  of  Tristran 
in  the  foreign  country  to  which  he  has  been  sent.  Eilhart, 
however,  knows  nothing  of  such  exploits,  and  remarks  that 
the  hero's  stay  was  short;  probably  his  source  limited  itself 
to  a  similar  indication. 

It  is  necessary  to  explain  how  Tristran  obtained  a  wife; 
but  homage  is  paid  to  the  popularity  of  Arthurian  romance, 
by  making  him  pre/iously  visit  the  country  of  the  Briton. 

95 


XII.    ARTHURIAN    EPISODE 

Tristran  arrives  at  the  court  of  Arthur,  where  he  obtains 
the  friendship  of  Walwain.  It  is  the  custom  of  youthful 
knights  to  ride  forth  in  quest  of  adventures,  making  it  a 
rule  to  do  battle  with  any  willing  to  encounter  them; 
one  champion  in  particular  has  a  reputation  for  uniform 
success.  Tristran  changes  his  armor,  and  thus  disguised, 
vanquishes  the  adversary,  whose  steed  he  bestows  on  a  poor 
man;  the  cavalier  returns  to  court,  where  he  recounts  his 
misfortune.  Hence  curiosity  as  to  the  victor;  Walwain 
suspects  Tristran,  who,  when  adjured  in  Isolt's  name,  cannot 
choose  but  confess  the  truth.  Walwain  is  of  opinion  that 
Tristran  ought  to  be  rewarded,  and  persuades  Arthur  to 
arrange  a  hunt  in  the  Blanche  Lande  (on  the  marches  of 
Cornwall),  where  the  king  has  a  hunting-lodge.  In  pursu- 
ing a  stag,  it  is  contrived  that  the  chase  shall  be  directed 
toward  Tintagel;  when  night  falls,  a  lodging  is  asked  for. 
Since  Marc  is  known  to  detest  his  nephew,  the  seneschal 
is  sent  to  obtain  an  assurance  of  safety.  The  story  in  some 
measure  follows  the  lines  of  the  chamber  scene  in  the  first 
part;  Tristran  is  wounded,  and  in  order  to  avoid  detection, 
Kay  suggests  that  the  knights  of  the  Round  Table  put 
themiselves  in  a  similar  condition    (incident  of  the  scythes). 

A  corresponding  trait  occurs  in  the  Prose,  and  may  be 
taken  to  indicate  that  the  episode  was  not  Eilhart's  own 
addition  to  the  story;  that  the  action  is  in  substance  of  the 
early  period  is  made  hkely  by  the  character  of  the  seneschal, 

96 


XII.    ARTHURIAN    EPISODE 

who  figures  as  friend  and  deliverer  of  the  hero,  whereas  from 
the  time  of  Crestien,  Kay  is  described  as  being  sharp-tongued 
and  mahcious. 

The  Berol  fragment  concludes  with  a  different  Arthurian 
adventure.  After  the  restoration  of  the  queen,  Cornish 
lords  insist  that  she  justify  herself  by  legal  process;  this  she 
is  willing  to  do,  provided  that  the  ceremony  take  place 
before  Arthur,  who  for  this  purpose  visits  the  Blanche 
Lande.  With  the  aid  of  Tristran,  who  remains  in  the 
vicinity,  is  devised  a  form  of  oath  which  can  be  taken  with- 
out absolute  perjury. 

As  already  noted,  Thomas  also  introduces  an  ordeal,  in 
which  the  hero  plays  a  similar  part;  the  agreement  of  such 
intercalations  implies  that  the  respective  authors  borrowed 
from  some  common  informant.  Again,  the  mention,  in 
both  Thomas  and  Berol,  of  the  locality  Blanche  Lande 
implies  that  this  informant,  on  his  own  part,  had  constructed 
the  episode  after  the  guidance  of  that  same  Arthurian  ad- 
venture which  we  have  in  Eilhart.  The  two  poets,  there- 
fore, derived  their  suggestion  from  some  lost  romancer  of 
the  latter  half  of  the  twelfth  century,  who  was  himself  a 
decorator  of  the  "Original"  translated  by  Eilhart. 

That  Thomas  omits  to  make  mention  of  Arthur  is  suffi- 
ciently explained  by  his  chronological  scheme;  having  made 
the  king  of  Cornwall  a  conqueror  of  England,  he  could  not 
refer  the  story  to  Arthurian  time. 

97 


XIII.    MARRIAGE 

After  the  hunting  party,  Tristran  leaves  Arthur,  makes  a 
week's  journey,  and  finally  arrives  in  a  wasted  country, 
through  which  he  rides  for  three  days,  seeing  only  deserted 
towns  and  villages.  At  last  he  finds  a  hermit,  from  whom 
he  learns  that  the  king  has  been  attacked  by  his  vassal 
the  Count  of  Nantes,  to  whom  he  had  refused  the  hand 
of  a  daughter,  and  having  been  defeated,  is  now  besieged 
in  his  last  stronghold  of  Carahes  (Carhaix  in  Brittany). 
The  hero  rides  to  the  gate,  offers  his  services,  and  recites 
his  quality.  Out  of  dehcacy  the  king  refuses;  want  of 
provisions  forbids  the  proper  entertainment  of  a  guest. 
At  the  intercession  of  the  king's  son  the  scruple  is  waived, 
and  the  two  young  knights  swear  friendship;  Tristran 
is  conducted  to  the  presence  of  the  princess,  and  is  sur- 
prised to  hear  her  called  Isolt;  the  name  awakens  tender 
associations.  The  Count  daily  challenges  single  combat. 
Having  obtained  consent  to  try  his  fortune,  Tristran  van- 
quishes and  captures  the  assailant,  who  is  compelled  to 
provision  the  fort.  The  Count's  men  demand  his  libera- 
tion, otherwise  threatening  to  storm  the  town  and  put  all 
to  the  sword.  Nephews  cf  the  king  arrive  by  sea,  with 
reinforcements;  it  is  resolved  to  accept  battle  in  the  open 
field,  and  the  command  is  given  to  Tristran,  who  makes 
proper  dispositions.  The  two  nephews  are  separately 
posted  as  reserves,  while  the  king,  with  knights,  archers  and 
variously  armed  burghers,  is  stationed  at  the  gates;  Tristran 

98 


XIII.    MARRIAGE       ' 

himself,  with  a  force  of  cavalry,  is  to  surprise  the  camp  of 
the  enemy.  The  attack  is  successfully  effected,  but,  as  the 
hero  had  foreseen,  it  proves  necessary  to  call  up  the  reserves; 
a  desperate  battle  is  finally  decided  by  the  appearance,  at 
the  critical  moment,  of  the  king  with  the  citizens.  The 
siege  is  abandoned,  and  all  honor  paid  to  Tristran,  who, 
through  his  comrade,  is  offered  the  hand  of  Isolt;  the  mar- 
riage takes  place,  but  is  not  consummated. 

This  adventure  has  particular  interest,  because  it  has 
been  imitated  by  Crestien,  who  on  this  basis  recounts  the 
marriage  of  Perceval.  Romantizations  are  introduced; 
Blancheflor  is  made  a  queen  in  her  own  right.  It  thus  be- 
comes clear  that,  when  Crestien  wrote  his  last  work,  the 
tale  which  we  possess  through  Eilhart  was  still  the  accepted 
form  of  the  Tristran. 

After  his  habit,  Thomas  subjects  the  narrative  to  a  com- 
plete reconstruction.  In  time  of  war  the  hero  enters  the 
service  of  the  Duke  of  Brittany,  and  obtains  the  independent 
command  of  a  fortress.  Into  a  song  which  he  is  in  the  habit 
of  chanting,  he  introduces  a  refrain  expressing  devotion  to 
Isolt;  by  a  natural  mistake,  he  is  supposed  to  entertain  an 
attachment  for  the  daughter  of  the  house,  and  the  marriage 
follows.  To  my  mind,  the  account,  compared  with  that  just 
mentioned,  indicates  the  continued  process  of  romantization, 
and  proves  that  Thomas  could  not  have  written  until  after 
Crestien's  time. 

99 


XIV.    STOLEN    INTERVIEWS 

At  great  length  the  tale  now^  sets  forth  successive  journeys 
to  Cornwall;  of  these  four  are  enumerated. 

I.  Tristran's  companion  learns  that  his  sister  is  neglected, 
and  remonstrates.  The  hero  replies,  that  he  is  loved  by  a 
lady  who  cares  more  for  a  hound  than  his  wife  does  for 
himself,  and  in  order  to  prove  the  truth  of  the  assertion, 
proposes  a  voyage.  The  two  cross  the  sea,  and  through  the 
friendly  seneschal  of  Marc,  it  is  arranged  that  the  king  and 
queen  shall  hunt  in  the  Blanche  Lande.  Hidden  in  the  bush, 
the  travellers  observe  the  passage  of  the  train;  Tristran's 
brother-in-law  admires  the  queen's  beauty,  observes  the 
manner  in  which  she  pets  the  dog  whom  the  hero  had  con- 
fided to  her  care,  and  admits  that  his  friend  has  only  told  the 
truth.  On  pretext  of  illness,  Isolt  contrives  to  separate 
herself  from  her  husband,  and  receives  Tristran,  whose 
comrade  has  an  amour  with  a  bower-maiden.  On  his  re- 
turn, Tristran  is  pursued  by  a  Cornish  lord,  who  presses  him 
hard,  and  finally  adjures  him  to  halt  for  the  queen's  honor; 
this  Tristran,  not  having  his  charger  and  being  unable  to 
joust,  dechnes  to  do.  The  lord  informs  Isolt,  who  is  en- 
raged by  the  unchivalric  conduct  of  her  lover.  In  vain  her 
chamberlain  is  charged  with  excuses;  the  hero,  in  order  to 
obtain  an  interview,  assumes  the  disguise  of  a  leper,  but  the 
merciless  queen  orders  her  servants  to  drive  him  away  with 
blows.  On  his  part  incensed,  Tristran  promises  his  friend 
not  to  visit  Cornwall  for  a  year,  returns  to  Brittany,  and  lives 
contentedly  with  his  wife. 

100 


XIV.    STOLEN    INTERVIEWS 

II.  As  time  passes,  the  queen  regrets  her  harshness. 
She  sends  her  page  over  sea,  with  a  message  imploring  for- 
giveness; as  penance  she  has  donned  a  hair  shirt.  When 
the  year  is  ended,  Tristran  and  Governal,  disguised  as  pil- 
grims, resort  to  Cornwall,  and  another  meeting  takes  place 
in  the  Blanche  Lande.  Tristran  now  has  an  opportunity 
of  making  up  for  his  former  omission;  when  invited  to 
take  part  in  games  for  the  queen's  sake,  he  does  so  and  dis- 
tinguishes himself. 

III.  The  father  of  the  hero  dies,  and  his  kingdom  is  in 
confusion.  Tristran  proposes  to  bestow  the  realm  on  his 
tutor,  and  to  take  Cornwall  on  his  way;  the  two  assume  the 
dress  of  minstrels.  A  meeting  with  the  queen  is  arranged 
to  take  place  at  the  fountain  in  the  garden  of  Tintagel.  The 
companions  are  pursued,  but  escape  through  a  stratagem 
devised  by  the  queen.  Tristran  reaches  Lothian,  where  he 
remains  two  years. 

At  this  point  is  brought  in  the  introduction  of  a  subse- 
quent adventure.  Tristran's  brother  loves  a  lady  whom  he 
should  have  married,  but  who  has  been  wedded  to  a  jealous 
dwarf  by  whom  she  is  immured;  false  keys  are  obtained  to 
her  prison. 

IV.  In  fresh  wars  with  the  Count  of  Nantes,  Tristran, 
while  attempting  to  storm  a  castle  and  bare-headed,  is 
struck  by  a  stone,  and  long  lies  helpless.  On  recovery,  ac- 
companied by  a  young  nephew,  he  sits  on  the  seashore,  gaz- 
ing toward  Cornwall.     The  boy  learns  the  cause  of  his  wist- 

lOi 


XIV.    STOLEN    INTERVIEWS 

fulness,  and  assures  him  that  his  changed  appearance  will 
preclude  recognition.  As  an  idiot  (and  therefore  merry- 
maker) he  arrives  in  Cornwall,  where  he  holds  a  riddling 
conversation  with  the  king,  and  makes  himself  known  to 
the  queen,  w^ho  causes  him  to  be  lodged  below  the  stair  of 
her  bower.  He  is  suspected  by  chamberlains,  who  surround 
himi  and  attempt  his  arrest,  but  he  breaks  through,  first 
taking  leave  of  Isolt,  whom  he  entreats  to  comply  with  any 
wishes  expressed  by  a  messenger  who  may  present  her  ring 
as  token. 

Of  the  four  journeys,  Thomas  relates  only  the  first  and 
second;  but  notes  also  the  story  of  the  jealous  dwarf;  the  Prose 
also  mentions  the  hero's  hurt  and  illness;  so  that  these  authors 
were  acquainted  w4th  the  history  which  we  have  in  Eilhart. 

The  adventure  in  which  Tristran  plays  the  part  of  a  fool 
was  found  especially  amusing,  and  received  episodic  treat- 
ment from  writers  of  two  lays,  who  expanded  the  data  of  the 
epos. 

The  attempted  arrest  in  the  queen's  bower  served  the 
author  of  Mort  Artur  as  a  model  for  the  scene  in  which 
Lancelot  for  the  last  time  meets  Guenievre. 

It  thus  clearly  appears  that  a  single  highly  complicated 
narrative,  the  same  which  by  good  fortune  Eilhart  undertook 
to  translate,  is  responsible  for  all  extant  versions  of  the 
romance. 

XV.   TRAGEDY 

Tristran  and  his  brother-in-arms  secretly  visit  the  dw^arf's 
wife,  are  discovered  and  pursued;  the  brother  is  slain,  and 

102 


XV.    TRAGEDY 

Tristran  wounded  with  a  poisoned  lance;  only  Isolt  of  Corn- 
wall can  heal  the  wound.  As  messenger  is  sent  a  mariner 
of  Carhaix,  in  whose  house  Tristran  had  once  lodged;  if  the 
queen  arrive  a  white  sail  is  to  be  hoisted;  the  sailor's 
daughter  is  to  keep  watch.  Tristran's  wife  learns  the 
plan,  and  in  her  jealousy  falsely  reports  that  the  sail  is 
black;  the  hero  dies  of  heart-break.  On  landing,  the  queen 
hears  the  tolling  of  church-bells,  and  meets  the  funeral  pro- 
cession; she  disputes  with  her  namesake  a  place  at  the  head 
of  the  bier,  lifts  the  linen  shroud,  flings  herself  on  the  body 
and  expires.  When  the  story  is  known,  and  he  learns  that 
the  passion  has  been  magically  caused.  Marc  is  sorry;  he 
would  rather  have  abandoned  his  realm  than  lost  wife  and 
nephew.  He  lays  the  lovers  in  one  grave,  and  over  their  re- 
mains plants  a  vine  and  a  rosebush,  which  rise  and  intertwine. 

Eilhart  adds,  as  a  remark  of  his  own,  that  the  story  was 
told  in  various  ways;  he  had  heard  that  the  twining  of  the 
plants  was  owing  to  the  power  of  the  love-drink.  The 
Prose  also  notes  the  king's  repentance  and  the  honorable 
interment  at  Tintagel,  so  that  the  secondary  source  must 
have  retained  these  traits. 

Thomas,  though  retaining  the  outhnes  of  the  death-scene, 
has  been  pleased  to  recast  the  manner  of  the  hero's  injury, 
which  according  to  him  was  received  from  an  envenomed 
spear  Vv^ielded  by  the  men  of  The  Proud  One  of  the  Iron 
Castle,  against  whom  Tristran  has  espoused  the  cause  of  a 
dwarfish   namesake.     The   poet   says  that   he   had   read   a 

103 


XV.   TRAGEDY 

version  in  which  the  wounder  was  a  dwarf  whose  wife  the 
hero's  brother-in-law  loved;  but  this  variant  contained  an 
impossibility,  in  affirming  that  it  was  Governal  who  brought 
over  Isolt;  now  the  latter  was  too  well  known  in  Britain 
safely  to  visit  the  island. 

The  version  of  the  Prose,  which  makes  mention  of  the 
white  sail,  agrees  with  Eilhart  in  making  Tristran's  friend 
the  mariner  fetch  the  queen. 

Thomas  adds  that  the  narrators  to  whom  he  objects  had 
not  been  acquainted  with  the  story  of  Breri,  who  was  an 
authority  in  regard  to  the  gesta  of  British  kings  and  counts. 
In  such  expression,  the  poet  follows  a  common  practice; 
a  minstrel  who  thought  the  minds  of  his  readers  preoccu- 
pied with  that  earlier  form  of  a  history  which  he  chose  to 
recast,  would  be  likely  to  affirm  that  his  predecessor  (whom 
he  used  and  altered)  was  imperfectly  informed. 

As  to  Breri,  it  so  happens  that  Giraldus  Cambrensis 
mentions  as  a  famous  fabiilator  of  an  earlier  generation  a 
Bledhericus;  this  personage  may  be  identical  with  the 
Breri  noted  by  Thomas.  The  equation  suggests  intricate 
questions,  which  might  well  find  consideration  in  the  course 
of  an  inquiry  into  the  "Matter  of  Britain."  However,  in 
the  present  case,  the  name  is  introduced  only  as  that  of  a 
fabulous  sponsor.  The  notice,  therefore,  is  not  directly 
relevant,  and  the  question  as  to  Cymric  sources  must  be 
otherwise  determined. 

104 


XVI.    RELATION   OF    VERSIONS 


That  all  extant  forms  of  the  tale  go  back  to  a  single  French 
original,  and  that  such  original  is  in  the  main  represented 
by  Eilhart's  translation,  are  positions  established  by  Bedier. 

I  go  a  step  farther,  and  consider  the  poem  of  Eilhart 
as  a  rude  but  faithful  paraphrase,  in  its  entirety,  of  the 
assumed  original. 

The  fragment  of  Berol,  so  far  as  coincident,  is  an  en- 
larged and  decorated  recast  of  the  same  composition. 

The  extent  to  which  Crestien,  in  his  preserved  poems,  has 
laid  under  contribution  themes  correspondent  to  Eilhart's 
narration  leaves  room  for  only  two  conclusions:  Eilhart 
translated,  either  the  lost  Tristran  of  Crestien,  or  else  an 
earlier  romance  which  the  latter  remodelled. 

Remaining  versions  (Thomas,  the  Prose,  Tristran  as 
Fool),  by  their  agreements,  indicate  a  common  secondary 
source,  in  which  the  history  was  advanced  one  stage  beyond 
that  of  Eilhart's  narrative.  Now,  the  relation  of  Crestien 
to  prose  Arthurian  romance  makes  it  altogether  probable 
that  his  was  the  required  intermediary  followed;  so  that  of 
the  alternatives  already  presented,  the  latter  is  to  be  pre- 
ferred; Crestien  reconstructed  the  poem,  which,  by  good 
fortune,  is  preserved  through  Eilhart's  rough  paraphrase. 

In  any  attempt  to  trace  farther  back  the  development  of 
the  tale,  the  inquirer  has  no  resource  other  than  conjecture 
based  on  the  data  of  the  German  poem. 


105 


XVII.    THE    HISTORY   IN   WALES 

In  mediaeval  Welsh  literature  the  story  exists  only  in  the 
form  of  allusions. 

The  tale  of  Kulhwch  and  Olwen,  in  reciting  the  names  of 
ladies  belonging  to  the  court  of  Arthur,  mentions  Essylt 
Vinwen  and  Essylt  Vingul.  In  The  Dream  of  Rhonabiuy 
Drystan  figures  as  a  knight  of  Arthur. 

Triads  note  the  same  names.  Essylt  is  described  as  an 
unchaste  lady,  and  Drystan  or  Trystan  as  a  brave  warrior. 

A  single  triad  gives  more  definite  statements.  Desiring 
to  communicate  with  Essylt,  wife  of  his  uncle  March,  son 
of  Meirchion,  Trystan  commissions  a  swineherd  to  carry 
his  message,  and  during  the  interim  undertakes  to  watch 
the  drove;  Arthur,  March,  Kei,  and  Bedwyr  endeavor  to 
obtain  a  pig,  but  cannot  succeed  either  by  force  or  guile. 

Scanty  as  is  the  information,  it  implies  that  mediaeval 
Welshmen  were  acquainted  with  the  hero's  banishment 
from  the  court  of  Cornwall,  his  secret  meetings  with  the 
wife  of  his  uncle,  and  his  subsequent  marriage  to  a  second 
heroine  of  like  name;  in  other  words,  with  the  outHne  of  a 
tale  similar  to  that  of  the  romancers. 

The  relation  might  very  well  be  interpreted  on  the  sup- 
position that  Welsh  literati  borrowed  from  French  romance 
the  data  which  they  afterwards  expanded  in  their  own 
manner. 

Manuscripts  of  the  sixteenth  century  contain  an  elabo- 
rate tale,  which,  as  only  recently  (and  not  yet  completely) 

io6 


XVII.   THE    HISTORY   IN   WALES 

edited,  has  escaped  the  attention  of  comparative  students. 
The  writers,  who  seem  to  have  been  chiefly  concerned  with 
the  preservation  of  verse,  have  only  given  a  prose  account 
necessary  for  comprehension  of  the  poetry;  the  notices 
seem  to  be  in  the  nature  of  abstracts,  and  to  imply  a  long 
history.  So  far  as  the  obscurities  of  bad  spelling  and  bardic 
mysticism  allow  me  to  decipher,  the  purport  appears  to  be 
somewhat  as  follows. 

Trystan  and  Essylt  elope  from  the  court  of  March  into 
the  wood  of  Celyddon  (the  Caledonian  Forest),  where  the 
trees  of  the  wilderness  supply  couch  and  food.  They  have 
also  taken  the  wise  precaution  to  convey  a  hamper  contain- 
ing pasties  and  wine.  Essylt  is  accompanied  by  a  maiden, 
called  Eye-of-a-Summer-Day.  Essylt  is  in  terror  for  the 
sake  of  Trystan,  who  has  disappeared  in  the  dangerous 
forest,  which  is  full  of  alarming  sounds.  Kae  Hir  (Kay  the 
Long)  finds  her  in  this  state  of  mind,  and  consoles  her  with 
good  news  of  the  hero's  safety;  as  a  reward,  he  is  prom- 
ised possession  of  the  maid  with  the  summery  appellation. 
The  King  of  Cornwall  carries  to  Arthur  (who  is  a  near  re- 
lation of  both  parties,  being  uncle  to  Trystan)  report  of  his 
domestic  infelicity,  and  complaints  against  his  nephew; 
Arthur,  it  seems,  wishes  to  summon  Trystan,  but  the  latter 
is  recalcitrant,  and  (as  indicated  in  another  version)  over- 
throws in  joust  knights  of  the  Round  Table  who  have  gone 
in   quest  of  him.     Arthur  causes   minstrels  to   play   before 

107 


XVII.    THE    HISTORY   IN    WALES 

the  wanderer,  with  intent  to  charm  away  his  fury.  Gwalch- 
mai  (Gawain),  using  his  accustomed  courtesy,  soothes 
Try^stran  and  brings  the  latter  to  the  king.  Arthur  en- 
deavors to  effect  a  reconcihation;  but  inasmuch  as  neither 
the  husband  nor  the  lover  is  willing  to  forego  Essylt's  so- 
ciety, there  is  nothing  to  do  but  for  her  to  divide  the  year 
between  the  rivals.  March,  offered  his  choice  of  the  leafy 
or  leafless  season,  prefers  the  latter  as  longer  in  duration. 
The  narrative  is  interspersed  with  englynion  or  verses, 
which  present  the  accustomed  combination  of  mystery  and 
meaninglessness.  {Report  on  MSS.  in  the  Welsh  Language, 
Hist.  MSS.  Commission,  London,  1902,  II,  105.) 

The  French  Prose  makes  the  lovers  retire  to  the  forest  of 
Morois,  where  the  wood  furnishes  their  food,  while  Gover- 
nal  also  brings  provision  from  a  neighboring  castle;  in 
this  tale  also  the  queen  is  accompanied  by  a  maiden  (who 
seems  to  be  a  relative  of  Brengain).  Marc  recaptures 
Isolt,  and  eventually  also  Tristran,  who  swears  to  forsake 
Cornwall,  and  resorts  to  Logres  (England);  he  distin- 
guishes himself  in  a  tournament,  disappears,  and  is  the 
object  of  a  quest;  he  is  brought  to  court  by  Lancelot,  and 
made  a  knight  of  the  Round  Table;  Marc  also  resorts  to 
Arthur,  who  effects  a  temporary  reconciliation,  and  uncle 
and  nephew  together  return  to  Cornwall. 

It  appears  probable  that  the  Welsh  tale  represents  a  free 
construction  after  hints  supplied  by  the  French  Prose. 

108 


XVIII.    PERSONS 

In  that  portion  of  the  Berol-fragment  coincident  with 
Eilhart,  persons  represented  are  named  as  follows: 

Marc,  king  of  Cornwall. 
Tristran  of  Leonois,  nephew  of  Marc. 
Audret  of  Nicole,  nephew  of  Marc. 
Dinas  of  Dinan,  seneschal  of  Marc. 
Governal,  tutor  of  Tristran. 
Perinis,  chamberlain  of  the  queen. 
Ogrin,  a  hermit,  confessor  of  Marc. 
Frocin,  a  dwarf. 
Ivain,  a  leper. 

Isolt  of  Ireland,  wife  of  Marc. 
Brengain,  governess  of  Isolt. 

Marc.  The  name  is  the  Latin  Marcus.  The  Latin  Hfe 
of  Saint  Paulus  Aurelianus  (written  in  the  ninth  century) 
mentions  a  British  king  Marcus  (of  the  seventh  century), 
otherwise  called  Quonomorius,  and  said  to  have  reigned 
over  peoples  speaking  four  languages.  The  affiliations  of 
the  author  make  it  Hkely  that  this  king  was  a  Welshman;  as 
Bedier  suggests,  the  name  is  too  common  to  require  an 
equation  of  this  Marcus  with  the  sovereign  of  the  romance. 

Tristran.  Eilhart  has  Tristrant,  the  MSS.  of  the  French 
poems  usually  Tristran;    but  remains  of  a  form  Tristrant, 

109 


XVIII.    PERSONS 

preserved  in  rhyme,  are  sufficiently  numerous  to  indicate 
(as  seems  to  me)  the  originaUty  of  the  final  t.  (It  is  true 
that  in  the  Prose  numerous  proper  names  end  either  in  the 
terminations  -an  or  -ant,  w^ithout  any  certainty  as  to  the 
spelling  which  ought  to  be  preferred;  but  these  appellations 
are  only  quasi-Celtic,  being  merely  free  inventions  after  the 
model  of  Tristrant  or  Tristran.)  Tristram  found  in  French, 
Norse,  and  English,  is  only  an  euphonization;  the  reduction 
Tristan  seems  scarcely  to  have  established  itself  earlier  than 
the  thirteenth  century  (Gottfried's  is  perhaps  the  first 
clear    evidence). 

The  Pictish  Chronicle  and  also  Irish  Annals  know  of 
Pictish  kings  called  Drust,  Drest,  Drost,  or  (with  diminu- 
tive ending)  Drostan.  Another  royal  Pictish  name  is  Ta- 
lorc,  Talargan;  this  and  the  former  interchange  as  belong- 
ing to  father  and  son.  A  Talargan,  son  of  Fergus,  was  slain 
at  the  battle  of  Mugdock  in  750;  the  name,  without  change 
of  spelling,  appears  in  Annales  Cambriae. 

The  Welsh  name  is  Drystan  or  Trystan  (the  latter  form 
having  at  least  equal  title  to  precedence)  son  of  Tallwch. 

Now,  by  reason  of  the  double  assonance,  it  is  held  that  the 
son  of  Tallwch  is  to  be  identified  with  a  Drostan  son  of 
Talorc,  and  so  must  be  set  down  as  originally  a  Pict.  Yet, 
if  the  coincidence  is  twofold,  so  is  the  variation.  There  is 
no  phonetic  reason  for  altering  the  former  to  the  latter;  why 
should  Welsh  scholars,  famihar  with  the  Pictish  orthography, 

no 


XVIII.    PERSONS 

be  at  the  trouble  to  effect  a  change  ?  So  much,  even  if  the 
hero  had  in  the  first  instance  been  called  Tristan;  but  since 
his  French  name  was  Tristrant  or  Tristran,  the  equation 
falls  by  its  own  weight.  Probably  the  coincidence  is  al- 
together accidental;  if  any  one  thinks  the  resemblance  re- 
quires explanation,  he  is  at  liberty  to  suppose  that  the 
author,  who,  after  the  manner  of  Welsh  narrators,  saw  fit  to 
confer  on  an  immigrant  hero  papers  of  naturalization  in  the 
form  of  Celtic  paternity,  allowed  his  fancy  to  be  jogged  by 
a  vague  reminiscence  of  names  read  in  chronicles. 

The  romancers  thought  the  appellation  significant,  and 
it  seems  to  me  likely  that  such  may  originally  have  been  the 
case.  The  babe  is  called  Tristrant,  or  Maker  of  Grief,  as 
having  brought  about  the  death  of  his  mother.  A  parallel 
is  offered  by  Amis  and  Amiloun,  in  v/hich  the  youth  Owein 
receives  the  surname  Amorant  (or  Amoraunt,  Enamorer),  by 
which  he  is  henceforth  addressed.  On  the  basis  of  this  ex- 
ample, it  may  be  guessed  that  in  an  earlier  stage  of  the  tale  the 
hero  possessed  a  separate  proper  name,  which  in  the  extant  his- 
tory has  been  superseded  by  an  epithetic  designation.  Such 
process  is  common.  So  in  the  poem  of  Thomas,  Tristran's 
father  was  called  by  the  epithet  Canelengres,  in  place  of 
Rivalen.  In  the  Welsh  tale  entitled  Pwyll  Prince  of  Dyfed, 
Gwri  Walk  Euryn  (Gwri  of  the  Golden  Locks)  obtains 
from  his  mother  the  surname  Pryderi,  or  Anxiety,  on  ac- 
count of  the  distress  caused  to  his  friends  by  his  disappear- 


XVIII.    PERSONS 

ance.  In  the  Irish  narrative  called  Cath  Mucrama,  Fiachna 
Muillethan  (Broad-Crown)  receives  the  nickname  Fer  da 
Liach,  or  M a n-of- two-Griefs,  as  having  lost  his  father  on 
the  day  of  his  begetting  and  his  mother  on  that  of  his  birth. 

Governal  might  come  from  governor,  as  suitable  to  the 
quaHty  of  an  ideal  Mentor;  but  Folie  Tristran  and 
Eilhart  have  a  metathetic  Gorvenal. 

Frocin  or  Frocine  might  be  connected  with  froncine,  parch- 
ment (from  the  wrinkled  aspect  of  dwarfs). 

holt.  Golther  long  ago  pointed  out  that,  previous  to  the 
century  of  the  romance,  the  name  was  a  Germanic  designa- 
tion, mascuhne  and  also  feminine. 

In  Eilhart  and  Berol  neither  Isolt  has  an  epithet  which 
forms  part  of  the  proper  name;  but  Crestien  mentions 
Isolt  of  Ireland  as  la  bloie  (the  blond),  which  is  also  used  in 
Folie  Tristran,  while  Isolt  of  Brittany  in  the  versions  of  the 
later  type  is  regularly  called  the  White-handed. 

Mention  has  already  been  made  of  the  Welsh  heroines, 
Essylt  Vinwen  and  Essylt  Vingul.  The  first  epithet  should 
be  made  up  of  min,  lip,  and  given,  white,  the  second  of  ?nin 
and  cul,  narrow.  But  w^hat  signify  the  quahfications  white- 
lipped  and  narrow-lipped  ^  The  sense  is  the  reverse  of  clear. 
I  suppose  that  the  appellations  are  bardic  and  purposely 
obscure.  Perhaps  the  intention  is  moral  rather  than  phys- 
ical: the  queen  of  Cornwall  may  be  referred  to  as  a  sin- 
cere lover,  the  lady  of  Brittany  as  limited  or  mean  (with 

112 


XVIII.    PERSONS 

allusion  to  her  untruthfulness  in  the  matter  of  the  white  sail 
which  wafted  her  rival).  However  this  may  be,  the  adher- 
ence of  significant  epithets  to  the  name  proper,  in  contrast 
to  the  direct  simplicity  of  the  older  French  version,  clearly 
indicates  a  later  stage  of  development.  The  inference  is 
that  it  was  rather  in  the  thirteenth  century  than  the 
twelfth,  on  the  basis  of  the  later  rather  than  the  earlier 
French  tale,  that  the  history  was  admitted  to  Wales.  This 
conclusion  agrees  with  the  abbreviated  name  of  the  hero 
(Tristan  instead  of  Tristran). 

Brengain  (Bringvain,  Thomas)  is  doubtless  the  name 
which  we  have  in  the  Welsh  tale  of  Branwen  daughter  of 
Llyr. 

Rivalen  (Rivalin,  Eilhart).  The  father  of  the  hero  has 
a  very  familiar  Cymric  proper  name,  Rhiwallon,  Latinized 
Rivallo,  etc.  Thomas  gives  him  the  surname  Canelengres, 
which  in  his  story  often  replaces  Rivalen.  He  seems  to 
suppose  that  the  addition  has  to  do  with  an  aerial  place- 
name  Canoel.  I  would  rather  suppose  that  originally  the 
appendage  contained  a  significant  French  epithet  (It-engres). 

Hudent  (Utant,  Eilhart).  The  name  of  the  hound  should 
have  something  to  do  with  that  habit  of  baying  on  the  trail, 
which  forms  his  characteristic  office  in  the  narrative.  Per- 
haps Hu-dent,  Howl-tooth,   i.e.  Loud-mouth  ? 

Other  proper  names  of  the  older  version  are  nondescript 
or  uncertain  as  to  derivation. 

"3 


XVIII.    PERSONS 

In  an  episode  inserted  by  Berol  the  enemies  of  Tristran 
are  named  as  Guenelon  (the  traitor  of  the  Song  of  Roland), 
Godoine  (EngHsh  Godwin),  and  Denoalent,  etc.  a  name 
which  has  been  identified  with  a  Donuallonus  of  the  Car- 
tulary of  Redon  (Brittany). 

Thomas  supplies  many  more  actors,  in  the  main  repre- 
sentative only  of  his  own  imaginative  faculty.  It  is  of  in- 
terest to  note  the  methods  he  employs. 

(i)  Duplication  of  names  already  belonging  to  the  tale: 
Isolt  queen  of  Ireland,  mother  of  the  heroine. 

(2)  Addition  of  an  epithet  as  part  of  a  name:  Tristran 
//  amerus  (the  lover)  in  contrast  with  a  Tristran  //  nam  (the 
dwarf). 

(3)  Substitution  of  more  euphonious  and  quasi-Celtic 
appellations:  Melot  for  the  dwarf  Frocin,  Mariadok  (saga: 
i.e.  Meriadoc)  for  Audret,  Cariado  {i.e.  Caradoc)  for 
Pleherin. 

(4)  Introduction  of  actors  quasi-Celtic  or  connected  with 
British  history:  Morgan  Duke  of  Brittany,  Gormon  king 
of  Ireland  (this  name  borrowed  from  Geoffrey  of  Monmouth 
through  Wace). 

The  manner  of  procedure  thus  illustrated  deserves  atten- 
tion. Recent  inquirers  have  been  prone  to  lay  emphasis  on 
the  character  of  proper  names;  Celtic  resonance,  to  their 
minds,  supposes  Celtic  derivation.     They  overlook  the  es- 

114 


XVIII.    PERSONS 

sential  consideration  that  mediaeval  romancers,  like  modern 
novelists,  found  no  difficulty  in  adapting  names  to  scenery; 
if  the  action  were  laid  in  Celtic  lands,  the  appellations  natur- 
ally took  on  a  Celtic  quality.  Such  observation  amply  ac- 
counts for  the  Celticizing  names  of  the  earher  story  (Rivalen, 
Brengain). 

XIX.    LOCALITIES 

All  narrators  make  Cornwall  the  country  of  the  husband, 
Ireland  the  birth-land  of  the  first  Isolt,  and  Brittany  the 
country  of  the  second. 

The  hero,  in  most  versions,  belongs  to  Loonois  or  Leonois, 
that  is  to  say  Lodonesia,  or  Lothian  in  Scotland.  Thomas 
has  seen  fit  to  alter  the  residence,  which  (on  the  evidence 
of  translators)  he  seems  to  have  called  Ermenie.  Accord- 
ing to  Beda,  Britons  came  from  Armorica;  a  scribe  mis- 
wrote  Armenia,  whence  probably  Thomas  took  his  idea; 
Tristran,  as  representing  the  original  habitat  of  the  race, 
was  more  British  than  the  Britons. 

Marie,  on  the  contrary,  makes  Tristran  a  native  of  South 
Wales;  as  she  is  likely  to  have  been  well  informed,  it  must 
be  presumed  that  she  was  acquainted  with  a  form  of  the 
history  different  from  that  which  lies  at  the  basis  of  all 
extant  versions;  since  she  knew  the  exile  of  Tristran,  his 
secret  visits  to  the  queen  of  his  uncle,  and  the  simultaneous 

115 


XIX.    LOCALITIES 

death  of  the  lovers,  the  story  must  have  been  kindred,  and 
depended  on  the  same  ultimate  source;  and  since  her  poem 
is  the  oldest  existing  work  of  the  cycle,  it  follows  that  when 
she  wrote,  the  type  of  the  tale  given  in  Eilhart  had  not  yet 
been  firm.ly  established. 

Geographical  indications  are  slender.  Romancers  know 
that  Nantes  and  Carhaix  were  towns  of  Brittany.  Eilhart 
makes  Tintagel  the  residence  of  Marc,  while  Berol  (obvi- 
ously by  later  expansion)  considers  this  town  to  be  only  one 
among  many  royal  cities;  mentioned  especially  are  the 
(aerial)  localities  of  Lancien  and  Saint  Lubin  (the  latter 
name  is  found  in  Normandy,  to  which  country  Berol  has 
been  referred). 

Other  Cornish  localities  are  fanciful.  Morois  is  described 
as  a  wood  near  Tintagel,  and  cannot  (as  has  been  thought) 
relate  to  Moray;  Blanche  Lande  is  a  district  on  the  border 
of  England,  and  can  have  no  relation  to  any  known  histori- 
cal locality  of  like  name;  the  isle  of  the  duel  was  in  full 
view  of  warriors  standing  on  the  Cornish  shore,  and  cannot 
have  been  any  Insula  Trestanni  (Trestan's  Isle)  of  the 
Scilly  Islands. 

Eilhart  and  Berol  know  of  no  designation  for  the  island 
in  question,  which  Crestien  and  later  writers  call  the  Isle 
of  Saint  Samson.  Substitution  of  a  definite  name  for  an 
anonymous  locahty  is  a  mark  of  a  later  variant.  The  men- 
tion may  be  taken  with  the  epithet  attached  to  the  name  of 

ii6 


XIX.    LOCALITIES 

the  heroine  as  evidence  confirming  the  conjecture  that  by 
Crestien  the  story  was  advanced  a  stage  beyond  that  found 
in  Eilhart. 

Berol's  affirmation  that  Cornishmen  call  a  certain  preci- 
pice Tristran's  Leap  is  not  to  be  taken  seriously. 

In  the  usual  Anglo-Norman  style,  Wales  figures  as  a 
desert  to  which  exiles  fly,  and  as  an  abode  of  rude  folk. 

Arthur's  country  (Britain,  according  to  Eilhart)  is  exclu- 
sive of  Cornwall  and  Lothian,  Marc  and  Rivalen  being 
independent  princes.  In  accordance  with  Arthurian  ro- 
mance, Carlisle  is  mentioned  as  a  principal  city.  Thomas, 
in  order  to  aggrandize  the  king  of  Cornwall,  has  been  pleased 
to  relegate  the  history  to  some  unspecified  age. 


XX.    TALE    ELEMENTS 

The  romance  has  been  developed  with  the  aid  of  sub- 
ordinate themes,  which  for  the  most  part  appear  elsewhere 
in  French  literature,  and  must  be  considered  as  West  Euro- 
pean rather  than  as  belonging  to  any  particular  country. 

A  celebrated  passage  of  Berol  assigns  to  the  King  of  Corn- 
wall the  ears  of  a  horse.  The  attribution  is  dependent  on 
the  resemblance  of  the  Old  French  marc,  horse  (Welsh 
march)  to  the  proper  name  Marc.  It  has  been  thought  that 
the  trait  may  imply  the  survival  of  old  Celtic  myth. 

117 


XX.   TALE    ELEMENTS 

However,  the  incident  constitutes  one  of  the  numerous 
intercalations  which  appear  solely  in  Berol,  and  which  can- 
not be  supposed  to  have  had  any  place  in  the  original  ro- 
mance; the  scene  is  introduced  in  order  to  satisfy  poetic 
justice,  by  bringing  to  a  bad  end  enemies  of  the  hero.  More- 
over, as  Bedier  points  out,  there  was  another  tale  in  which 
the  dwarf  perished,  not  at  the  hands  of  the  king,  but  by  the 
agency  of  Tristran  himself. 

In  fact,  Berol  merely  took  up  into  his  decorated  narra- 
tive a  current  anecdote,  which  in  the  Middle  Age  was  fa- 
miliar throughout  Europe  and  Asia. 

A  king  is  said  to  have  had  monstrous  ears  (of  a  goat,  ass, 
or  horse);  in  order  to  hide  this  defect,  he  is  in  the  habit  of 
murdering  his  barbers.  It  so  happens  that  on  a  certain 
day  the  office  is  of  necessity  performed  by  a  friend,  who  is 
spared  on  condition  of  secrecy.  The  effort  at  concealm.ent 
proves  too  much  for  his  health,  and  a  physician  recommends 
him  to  reheve  his  mind  by  imparting  the  secret  to  the  earth. 
A  hole  is  dug,  the  tidings  whispered,  and  the  spot  covered 
over.  Reeds  spring  up,  of  which  minstrels  make  pipes. 
These  play  only  one  tune,  reciting  that  the  king  has  such 
ears. 

The  tale  is  related  with  variations  by  Ovid,  appears  as 
the  twenty-second  narration  of  the  Mongol  Siddhi-Kiir,  and 
has  been  recorded  in  Servia,  Ireland  {Revue  Celtique,  ii, 
197),   Brittany   (Cambry,    Voyage  dans  le  Finistere,   Brest, 


XX.   TALE    ELEMENTS 

1835,  p.  179),  and  Wales  (J.  Rhys,  Celtic  Folk-lore,  Oxford, 
1901,  i,  233). 

It  may  excite  surprise  that  a  poet  of  the  thirteenth  cen- 
tury should  have  been  wiUing  to  give  a  king  such  append- 
ages. This,  however,  I  believe,  Berol  does  not  do.  Marc, 
suspicious  of  his  nephew,  has  frequent  occasion  to  consult 
the  divining  dwarf,  whom  curious  lords  besiege  for  infor- 
mation. He  declares,  that  if  they  will  put  his  head  under 
a  thorn-bush,  they  shall  know.  This  is  done,  and  the  dwarf 
affirms  that  the  bush,  not  he,  says  that  the  king  has  horse's 
ears.  The  lords  inform  Marc,  who  laughs,  and  replies  that 
if  he  has  such  ears,  it  is  the  diviner  who  has  put  them  on 
him;  with  the  accustomed  arbitrary  procedure  of  kings  in 
fable,  he  takes  the  head  of  the  dwarf,  not  for  his  babbling 
(the  king's  ears  are  perfectly  normal),  but  for  his  impudence. 
The  passage  presupposes  on  the  part  of  French  readers  a 
knowledge  of  the  tale. 

For  the  rest,  it  is  an  error,  in  my  judgment,  to  look  for 
any  pecuharly  Norse,  English,  or  Cymric  character  in  epi- 
sodes of  the  Tristran. 

XXI.    MANNERS 

Speaking  generally,  the  scenario  and  properties  of  the 
tale,  costume,  behavior,  address,  armor,  warfare,  rehgion, 
belong  only  to  French  Ufe  in  the  middle  of  the  twelfth  cen- 

119 


XXI.    MANNERS 

tury.  There  are,  however,  certain  exceptional  traits  which 
have  been  taken  to  indicate  survival  from  earlier  barbarism, 
and  to  imply  that  the  romancers  received  information  from 
Cymric  sources. 

Among  such  traits  Bedier  notes  the  following:  skill  in 
archery  of  the  hero,  the  possession  of  a  miraculous  bow,  the 
mention  of  Tintagel  as  a  castle  disappearing  semi-annually, 
and  the  gift  ascribed  to  Tristran  of  imitating  the  notes  of 
birds. 

It  is  to  be  noted,  in  the  first  place,  that  these  mentions  are 
only  additions  made  by  Berol  or  other  late  authors,  whose 
intercalations  usually  represent  only  their  own  fancy. 

Again,  it  is  not  to  be  forgotten  that  France  and  England 
overflowed  with  fairy  lore,  from  which  suggestions  might 
readily  be  obtained. 

The  poet  who  chooses  to  make  Tristran  imitate  the  night- 
ingale has  for  his  object  the  conveying  of  a  signal  to  a  lady; 
surely  the  idea  implies  a  sophisticated  author.  For  Norman 
archery,  one  need  only  remember  Wat  Tyrrel. 

More  definite  are  indications  contained  in  the  accounts  of 
habitation.  Desiring  to  communicate  with  the  heroine, 
Tristran  sends  carved  sticks  down  a  stream  which  flows 
through  her  bower,  where  they  may  be  observed  and  convey 
their  message.  Now  it  is  held  that  such  description  implies 
domestic  arrangements  incompatible  with  civilized  Hfe. 

In  general,  the  romancers  make  the  surroundings  of  the 

120 


XXI.    MANNERS 


Cornish  court  as  splendid  as  they  know  how.  The  palace 
is  within  the  walls  of  Tintagel,  where  it  has  a  conspicuous 
position.  It  is  provided  with  a  hall  in  an  upper  story  or 
approached  by  steps,  according  to  the  custom  of  such  baron- 
ial edifices.  On  the  ground  floor  are  marble  chambers, 
offering  opportunities  for  carousal  which  the  exile  Tristran 
remembers  and  regrets.  The  women's  apartment — the 
"chamber"  (German  kemenate)  or  "chambers"  (Berol) — 
forms  a  separate  building  with  its  own  entrance,  having  a 
stair  which  is  especially  mentioned.  Here  (presumably  in 
the  upper  story)  is  the  bedchamber  proper,  served,  accord- 
ing to  usage,  by  chamberlains  who  were  liable  at  any  time 
to  be  needed,  and  who  therefore  slept  in  the  room  (the  office 
of  Lord  of  the  Bedchamber,  still  retained  in  the  Enghsh 
court,  indicates  the  Anglo-Norman  character  of  the  account); 
Tristran  seems  to  have  held  this  office.  The  "chamber" 
contains  also  other  rooms  suitable  for  the  accommodation  of 
the  queen  and  her  ladies;  on  the  ground  floor  is  especially 
mentioned  a  room  provided  with  curtained  windows  and  a 
dais,  in  which  (according  to  Berol)  the  queen  receives 
Tristran. 

Adjacent  to  the  palace  is  an  extensive  garden,  in  the  centre 
of  which  flows  a  fountain,  provided  with  a  basin  of  marble; 
here  the  queen  makes  an  assignation,  and  her  husband  con- 
ceals him.self  in  an  overhanging  pine-tree.  The  stream 
runs    through    the    garden,    and    is    conducted    under    the 

121 


XXI.    MANNERS 

"chamber,"  doubtless  in  order  to  supply  the  cisterns  and 
sinks  of  the  basement.  What  is  there  here  which  can 
properly  be  designated  as  primitive  ?  Indeed,  Bedier 
points  out  a  complete  parallel,  in  which  the  poem  of  Robert 
le  D'lable  makes  a  stream  similarly  flow  through  the  bower 
of  an  emperor's  daughter. 

That  such  a  method  of  obtaining  a  water  supply  was 
European  may  further  be  shown  by  an  example  from 
Franconia.  Wolfram  of  Eschenbach  makes  a  brook  run 
through  the  cloister  of  Sigune  (the  passage  is  of  his  own 
invention). 

Examples  of  similar  arrangements  which  have  been  cited 
from  Celtic  countries  (by  Kuno  Meyer)  can  therefore  be 
taken  only  as  additional  instances  of  an  international  habit. 

Altogether  different  is  the  character  of  another  scene 
found  in  Eilhart.  When  the  knights  of  Arthur  are  received 
at  Tintagel,  not  only  are  the  guests  lodged  in  the  hall,  but 
also  the  queen  has  in  the  same  room  her  bed,  which  is  pro- 
tected by  scythes. 

This  mode  of  lodging  is  certainly  primitive  enough,  but 
also  directly  in  contravention  of  that  above  noticed;  what 
has  become  of  the  "chamber"  t  Since  prehistoric  time,  no 
Cymric  princes  ever  so  dwelt.  The  passage  belongs  to  the 
second  and  later  part  of  the  poem.  The  apology,  given  by 
Eilhart,  in  which  he  observes  that  ancient  kings  did  not 
have  houses  as  extensive  as  at  present,  probably  made  part 

122 


XXI.    MANNERS 


of  his  source.  The  whole  trait  I  take  to  be  merely  a  piece 
of  deliberate  and  awkward  archaism  on  the  part  of  the 
French  continuator. 


XXII.    ETHICS 

That  love  has  a  right  to  make  its  own  law  is  a  doctrine 
familiar  in  modern  fiction.  It  is  held,  however,  that  in  order 
to  play  a  part  worthy  of  artistic  representation,  lovers  must 
hoist  their  own  independent  flag,  rather  than  piratically 
cruise  under  the  accepted  standard  of  conventional  pro- 
priety. 

With  the  Tristran  it  is  different;  the  wife  is  the  queen 
of  a  mighty  kingdom,  her  lover  its  heir  apparent;  neither 
has  the  least  idea  of  forfeiting  so  advantageous  a  position 
in  order  to  enjoy  each  other  in  safe  but  obscure  retirement. 
The  problem  is  how  to  obtain  pleasure  without  losing  posi- 
tion; for  no  better  purpose  it  is  considered  praiseworthy  to 
flatter  and  deceive;  merely  in  order  to  keep  her  secret  un- 
shared, the  heroine  stoops  to  plot  the  murder  of  a  faithful 
friend  and  benefactress,  whose  honor  she  has  already  sac- 
rificed. 

On  freedoms  of  lovers  the  saints  smile,  unless  when  it 
becomes  a  question  of  judicial  procedure;  then  indeed,  for 
the  sake  of  his  own  reputation  as  official  enforcer  of  oaths, 

123 


XXII.    ETHICS 

the  saint  will  be  implacable;  it  is  only  necessary,  however, 
to  devise  some  form  of  words,  which  may  be  sufficient  to 
attest  a  falsehood,  yet  not  literally  false. 

Such  conceptions  appear  to  me  in  no  degree  peculiar,  but 
quite  in  conformity  with  courtly  habit.  Ancient  epos 
would  probably  have  required  a  more  daring  procedure; 
at  least,  in  old  Irish  saga,  the  lady  in  similar  cases  exercises 
her  right  of  demanding  to  be  carried  oflF. 


XXIII.    PERIOD 

The  lay  of  Marie,  the  earlier  extant  document  of  the  cycle, 
may  be  dated  about  1160.  As  has  been  observed,  the  tale 
known  to  her  seems  not  to  have  been  the  existing  history, 
with  which,  a  few  years  later,  we  find  Crestien  acquainted. 

On  the  basis  of  its  rude  vigor,  the  Tristran  has  been  sup- 
posed by  Bedier  to  represent  an  Anglo-Norman  poem  of 
about  1 120. 

For  a  more  definite  conclusion,  I  would  refer  to  Geoffrey 
of  Monmouth.  The  narrative  presents  kings  of  Cornwall 
and  Lothian  as  independent  of  Arthur;  such  an  account 
would  have  been  impossible  after  Geoffrey  had  made  the 
Briton  the  greatest  of  emperors.  On  the  other  hand,  Eil- 
hart's  story  introduces  developed  Arthurian  romance,  and 
in    so    far    may    be    considered    as    posterior    to    Historia 

124 


XXIII.  PERIOD 

Regum  Britanniae.  Correspondingly,  the  narrative  con- 
tains indications  that  the  first  part  was  prior,  and  the  second 
part  a  sequel.  We  have  to  do,  therefore,  with  a  poem  of 
the  reign  of  Henry  I,  continued  and  recast  in  the  reign  of 
Stephen. 

The  work  of  Thomas  I  would  date  as  subsequent  to 
Crestien's  activity  (not  earher  than  1180). 

The  edition  of  Berol  is  known,  through  an  allusion,  to 
have  been  compiled  in  the  first  years  of  the  thirteenth 
century. 

XXIV.  THEORY 

In  early  Anglo-Norman  time  may  have  existed  an  anec- 
dote (of  any  country  or  no  particular  country),  expound- 
ing the  disastrous  effects  of  a  mistakenly  administered 
marriage  philter.  On  this  foundation,  by  stages  no  longer 
apparent,  was  produced,  before  1136,  an  episodic  poem  in 
substance  presenting  the  first  half  of  the  extant  history. 
After  the  manner  of  such  imperfect  organisms  (compare 
the  consequences  of  Crestien's  Lancelot)  the  romance,  after 
1 136,  created  its  own  new  conclusion,  and  set  up  an  inde- 
pendent existence.  The  narrative  immediately  began  to 
vary;  one  version  was  familiar  to  Marie,  another,  probably 
produced  a  Httle  later,  has  served  as  basis  for  all  existing 
forms  of  the  story,  and  on  this  account  may  be  called  the 

125 


XXIV.    THEORY 

"Original";  this  was  known  to  Crestien  (less  probably 
was  his  own  lost  poem),  has  been  faithfully  paraphrased  by 
Eilhart,  and  utihzed  by  Berol.  Not  the  Original,  but  a 
romanticized  recast  (possibly  Crestien's)  served  as  basis  for 
later  versions,  Thomas,  the  Lays,  and  the  Prose.  Founded 
on  the  same  Original  were  many  biographies  and  episodes 
not  now  preserved;  situations  from  such  lost  literature  have 
been  introduced  by  Thomas  and  Berol.  The  development 
continued  in  the  Prose,  w^hich  in  the  first  instance  may  have 
had  a  form  more  lucid  than  the  present  chaotic  reconstruc- 
tions; hence  Welsh  authors  may  have  borrowed  the  story, 
which  in  Wales  henceforth  pursued  its  own  independent 
career. 

XXV.   MODERN    VERSE 

Writers  of  verse  have  taken  the  story,  either  (like  Wagner) 
from  Thomas  after  the  translation  of  Gottfried,  or  (as 
English  poets  have  done)  from  the  Prose  through  the 
epitome  of  Malory. 

The  romance  essentially  represents  the  courtly  custom 
of  the  Middle  Age  (and  also  of  modern  times),  in  which  mar- 
riage has  been  regarded,  not  as  the  end,  but  the  beginning 
of  love-making.  With  the  ethics  English  authors  have 
found  themselves  embarrassed:  Tennyson  failed  to  make 
the    history   poetic;   Arnold    took    refuge   in    describing   the 

126 


XXV.   MODERN    VERSE 

virtues  of  the  wife  of  the  hero;  Swinburne  frankly  accepted 
mediaeval  ideas,  even  to  the  extent  of  finding  room  for  one 
at  least  of  the  crimes  by  which  the  account  is  stained. 

Wagner,  with  the  marvellous  resources  of  a  new  art,  pro- 
duced a  creation  in  some  measure  purified  by  its  beauty; 
yet  he  felt  the  necessity  of  according  the  ethics  to  spiritual 
perceptions  through  the  medium  of  a  mystic  philosophy, 
which  not  many  hearers  of  the  music  find  it  necessary  to 
take  into  account. 


127 


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